Mining for silver

  Potosi, Bolivia Monday, May 2, 2016

We arrived here mid afternoon so it was nice to arrive in daylight. The bus dropped us at the roadside not in a station but as we had our google maps app, it wasn't a problem as we knew we were close to where we were going. A taxi took us the rest of the way and we were at our hostel in no time. We had pre-booked this time - but for the following day. Booking.com wouldn't let us change our booking so we had turned up anyway hoping they would be more accommodating on site - which they were - they were lovely and we had a really warm welcome and even made us a cup of coffee. They gave us information about Potosi & when we enquired about the mine tours they had one lined up ready and it was as simple as that - all booked for tomorrow. That gave us the afternoon to find some food as we were really hungry. Trouble is everything was shut! All we could find was a lady selling some food on the street which would have to do - deep fried mashed potato with cheese inside - delicious. We stood there and scoffed it down there and then then bought 2 more. We could get used to these! The following day we were ushered to an office not far from out hostel. Here we were provided with wellington boots, trousers, jackets, helmets, miners lights and a backpack to carry our stuff in. It was going to be very dirty in the mine so at least we wouldn't be trashing our own clothes. Then back in the bus and we stopped again about half a mile away to buy provisions for the miners. The miners don't get paid very much and one way to thank them for allowing us to roam around their mine - getting in their way - is to buy them some of the things that make their life a little easier. Gidts usually take the form of bottle water or juice, cocoa leaves which they chew by the bagful, cigarettes, alcohol (96% proof), dynamite (which is quite expensive for them to buy but at £2 a stick not so bad for us), biscuits, cake and anything else which makes their day a bit less miserable.So gifts in hand, it was now time for the ex-miner - Antonio who was to be our guide today - to explain how it all worked. He did make us all jump when he threw the dynamite on the floor but luckily it wasn't the type that explodes upon impact. Then he put a flame too it and that had us a bit worried but again its a type that need a detonator so we were quite safe - apparently! Our last trip in the bus was to the mine itself oh and you should have seen the little hole we had to go through and then down a long ladder. It was a bit unnerving as it appeared to be under tones of rocks. We ll we made it in ok and surprisingly it wasn't to dark down there. The cumulative effect of all our miners lamps on our helmets made it quite easy to see.It was very very dusty though. We had both thought to buy face masks at the shop too and we are so glad we did. Our masks by the end were filthy with the amount of dust they had captured. To think all of that would have gone in our lungs otherwise - gross! The worst thing about the mine was the small spaces you had to go through. Not as bad as potholing we imagine but when you are decked out in extra layers of clothing and wearing clumsy boots, it isn't easy to run when Antonio yells at you to do so because there is a cart full of rocks hurtling at you and you have to run bent doubled over because the tunnel is only 4 ft high! Some tunnels were only 3 ft high and we had to walk on our haunches. Not easy either. And we were just in there for a day. These miners do it every day of the week. No wonder they need the extra incentives to do this job. Every now and then we heard a huge BOOM! but in the distance. Yep - this was dynamite going off.In some places down there, there were effigies to different Gods which Antonion stopped at to explain. There was a Pachamama (Inca Earth God) and Tio - The Inca Devil. All the effigies we saw were covered in cocoa leaves, cigarettes, colourful streamers and all manner of other things. It seems as if no matter what God or Devil you are asking to keep you safe, the ritual is the same. Put cocoa leaves and alcohol on it's penis and stick a cigarette in it's mouth. There are things they chant as they do this but it was all in Quechua so we didn't understand any of what was said. After about 1 1/2 hours it was time for us to leave the mine. And we can't say we were sorry at all. Whatever prayers Antonio had said to Pachamama and Tio had worked and we were fine.The sunlight glared at us and it took us a few moments to get used to the bright light again. We were covered in dust and hot. Despite being cold down there breathing through the mask was warm work. This was a real experience for us - neither of us had ever been down a working mine before and to be honest, we were not keen to go down another one. We were both glad we did this trip but we also both agreed - we wouldn't do it again!