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No Joke, it is really possible to visit an active silver mine in Potosi. After an odyssey through Bolivia (La Paz-Cochabamba-Oruro-Potosi-Sucre-Potosi) we finally arrive in Potosi at the late afternoon. This time we find a good hostel and visit the city subsequently. Potosi is a mining city. Thus it is not surprising that mines are the top tourist attraction. How can I visit a mine? Nothing is easier than this. Just go to the next travel agency and book a tour. Yes, serious most of the travel agencies in Potosi sell tours into active mines.
The next morning the tour starts at 9 am and we get our equipment: Boots, lamps, jacket, pants. Then we drive to the miners market to buy presents for the miners like coca leaves with catalyst, 95% alcohol, dynamite (yes, you can buy it without licence here), cookies, cigarettes,…
Our guide tells us why these things are important. In the mines of Potosi more than 1000 miners are working. They are organized in collaborations and work for themselves. Hence they have to buy their own equipment and everyone with a licence from the government can work there, even you and me. The coca leaves are like food for them, they work sometimes for more than 24 hours in the mines. The alcohol is for the devil in which they believe. If they give him something pure he will give them pure minerals. However the job is really dangerous: In average there is one deadly accident per day. The average life expectation is 35 years and sons replace their fathers when they are still children.
I enter my first underground mine. I have worked in the mining industry (dual study program) but something like this would be impossible somewhere else. The mine is tight and very wet. The tunnels are stabilized by eucalyptus wood. We follow the main tunnel. One person exists in every collaboration who is responsible for the stability of tunnels. Sometimes the wood is almost broken then we have to walk faster. There are air chimneys and electricity cables. With regard to carnival the mine is quiet. No miners run around with barrows. There is a museum which shows how it was worked in former time: The Spanish conqueror forced the Indigene people to work 6 month in the mines without coming out. Most of the miners suffer diseases after the first 5 years. Apparently, I can understand it, even now it is not easy to breath. We have to climb up some ladders and see silver veins. Then we reach the exit and are blended by the sun. After the eyes get used to the sun light we have an impressive view on the mountain called Cerro Rico and over the city.
It is time for the second mine, a smaller one, but more busy. Workers run around. We have to make space for them. Despite all of us walk bended over, we are hitting our heads at the ceiling. I can smell the dynamite. From time to time there are holes in the ground. We help a woman to climb over such a hole. Suddenly the others are vanished and we (3 people including me) are left back. We call names and go forward until the next fork. Then we decide to wait. The guide fetches us after some minutes and gives rise to a certain amount of relief. We see miners work and are also allowed to work a little bit. After a short time I return the tools, it is too exhausting and dusty.
The miners use pickaxe, hammer and bucket. Furthermore we visit a miner who wants to blast stones away using the dynamite we have bought on the market. It is totally silent while he prepares the dynamite. A dangerous moment but our guide promises us he is an expert. Well! After preparation he puts the dynamite in one of the prepared holes and we have to go further away. We cover our ears. 1.2.3 minutes are gone and we are still waiting. It has not worked. The miners have to wait at least one hour before they can go back. What an experience? We leave the mine and return to the city, but I can still feel the adrenalin in my body.