Potosi, Bolivia
We have travelled up in altitude again and are now above 4000m in the ciy of Potosi, which used to be the silver mining capital of the world. The advantage of low cost backpacking travel is that we get to experience a bit more of the local culture and lifestyle. At times we make the decision to stay in a private reserve, nicer hostel or eat at a more expensive restaurant. A lot of the time though, and especially in Bolivia, we have got closer we think to seeing and understanding the local poeple. We travel on the normal buses, collectivos, walk everywhere in the towns and eat cheaply (stomach problems permitting !) We couldn´t describe some of these experiences as enjoyable, but certainly eye-opening, humbling, a definite growth in ourselves, and understanding of the daily challenges other people face in 
the world. A direct example of this has been the last couple of days where we have understood a bit about the mining operations and conditions close to Potosi. In Sucre one evening, we watched a documentary, The Devil´s Miner (2005), on child miners in the Cerro Rico, the silver mine just outside Potosi. The film was shocking and described the life of a 14 year old boy who had worked underground since the age of 10 in unbelievably bad conditions. He was the sole provider for his fatherless family, and also managed to fit in school studies as well around his mine shifts. Out of 5000 miners still working the huge deposit, an estimated 800 are children, despite government laws prohibiting it. In the life of the mine of over 450 years, over 8 million people are estimated to have died from working in the mine, many due to silicosis pnuemonia. Most miners are not espected to live beyond the age of 45. The film set us up well, as this morning we joined a tour to the mine that included the miners market, small refinery, and a tour into the mine itself. The tour was very well run and organised, but the conditions underground are primitive, very manual, unsafe and very unhealthy. After my short stint in South Africa working on a deep gold mine, I lasted just to the end of Level 1 and had had enough. Heather, the real trooper, continued on down to Level 2 and 3, 
and just found the conditions awful.
We have travelled up in altitude again and are now above 4000m in the ciy of Potosi, which used to be the silver mining capital of the world. The advantage of low cost backpacking travel is that we get to experience a bit more of the local culture and lifestyle. At times we make the decision to stay in a private reserve, nicer hostel or eat at a more expensive restaurant. A lot of the time though, and especially in Bolivia, we have got closer we think to seeing and understanding the local poeple. We travel on the normal buses, collectivos, walk everywhere in the towns and eat cheaply (stomach problems permitting !) We couldn´t describe some of these experiences as enjoyable, but certainly eye-opening, humbling, a definite growth in ourselves, and understanding of the daily challenges other people face in 
the world. A direct example of this has been the last couple of days where we have understood a bit about the mining operations and conditions close to Potosi. In Sucre one evening, we watched a documentary, The Devil´s Miner (2005), on child miners in the Cerro Rico, the silver mine just outside Potosi. The film was shocking and described the life of a 14 year old boy who had worked underground since the age of 10 in unbelievably bad conditions. He was the sole provider for his fatherless family, and also managed to fit in school studies as well around his mine shifts. Out of 5000 miners still working the huge deposit, an estimated 800 are children, despite government laws prohibiting it. In the life of the mine of over 450 years, over 8 million people are estimated to have died from working in the mine, many due to silicosis pnuemonia. Most miners are not espected to live beyond the age of 45. The film set us up well, as this morning we joined a tour to the mine that included the miners market, small refinery, and a tour into the mine itself. The tour was very well run and organised, but the conditions underground are primitive, very manual, unsafe and very unhealthy. After my short stint in South Africa working on a deep gold mine, I lasted just to the end of Level 1 and had had enough. Heather, the real trooper, continued on down to Level 2 and 3, 
and just found the conditions awful.