The actual town of Uyuni, where the salt flats are, was a little bare, so we hopped straight on a bus to Potosi. At 4,300 m high, the altitude was going to be a test. And of course our dorm room was on the top floor. But the view was worth it.
One of the main things to see here is the silver mines. They're run as a cooperative and the miners work for themselves, selling their minerals at the end of the day. The miners can make a fair bit more than they could working in town but the conditions haven't been updated since mining began there 500 years ago so the miners who work there cut ten to twenty years off their life expectancy. We decided to go on the tour to see how they work.
First you buy the miners gifts, usually cocoa leaves, 96% alcohol or a stick of dynamite will do. Dynamite will cost you £2.
Before heading into the mines, all smiles
The first things that hits you is the dust and then the heat, it's hard to breathe down there and so cramped. You have to crawl at times. The miners can't eat down there as if they get the dust in their stomachs, it can make them sick. So they chew cocoa leaves instead, to suppress their hunger and help with their headaches. They could easily be down there for 12 hours at a time.
Down here they worship the Tio, because God can't help them down there. His penis had fallen off though.
The boys were put to the test to carry some of the minerals for some miners working. Each bag weighed the same as a human, it looked tough...
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