After the nightmarish night bus from La Paz to Uyuni... we opted to travel from Uyuni to Potosi in a slightly more civilzed manner, taking the trip during the day.
Potosi is a large mining city so we decided to do a tour of one of the working mines while we were there. This is basically where you spend 3 hours peeing your pants in sheer terror because of the threat of cave-ins, squishing yourself through tunnels built for dwarves, joining the miners in drinking the 96% alcohol they bring with them, and Tim's personal favourite... being able to buy your own dynamite to "blow shit up."
After being kitted out in all the gear - boots, coveralls, helmet and lamp - we headed off to one of the town's refineries to see how they process all the minerals they extract from the mountain. Next was a quick stop via the miner's market so that completely naive tourists could purchase as much dynamite as they could afford (not hard when it cost about $3!) Then it was straight to the mine (I think the only safety tip we got was how to turn your lamp on and off.) After a few minutes of walking through the first tunnel everyone needed to sit and take a rest. The combination of altitude, a lot of dust, darkness, and small spaces had everyone getting a bit nervous.
The second level we went through was probably the worst... having to crawl on your belly for half and trip down some very rickety ladders for the rest. I'm pretty sure Tim got stuck at one point but still won't admit it!
The 3rd and 4th levels down were a bit roomier, but much harder to breathe in. Tim managed to convince one of the miners to let him have a go at hammering one of the mineral lines... I think the miners words were "he hits like a lady." So after spending about 2 hours underground we finally re-surfaced, all in one piece... just in time to set off some dynamite.
Now I realize that the fuse they stick in dynamite lasts long enough so that it can be planted somewhere first, giving enough time to run away. I did not really understand however why the guide felt that there was still enough time for everyone to take their photo with a stick of burning dynamite... and I was not impressed when Tim handed it to me last.
Another highlight to our stay in Potosi was that it was the city's 199th anniversary while we were there... giving us a chance to check out all the local festivities, including never-ending parades and kids lighting off firecrackers. Even the President came for the day.
We've now arrived in Sucre for a couple days of horseriding and mountainbiking...
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