Day 15: Potosi to Uyuni

Day 15: Bananas, Dynamite and Desert

Mood: Awestruck
Music: Manic Street Preachers - Forever delayed

Today started with a trip to the Potosi mines. It was from here that the Spaniards gained the Silver that adorns the alters of much of Latin America and beyond. The trip starts with a visit to the miners market. From here it is customary to purchase gifts of coca leaves, cigarettes and drink (96% per volume) for the miners. It is also possible to purchase dynamite, fuses, detonators and explosive packing materials, all for less than £1.50. It is both legal to sell and buy these items in the streets surrounding the mines but if you head two blocks further out from where we were you will face an 8 year jail term for their possession.

From here we stopped off to pick up overalls, boots and a hard hat and were driven up to the mines. The first we tried to visit wasn't open as it was a day or two after a major celebration for the miners and they were taking the day off. This meant heading further up the mountain to fine something that was open. A short drive later we pulled up outside a small hole in the rock with a sign outside professing to be a Silver and Zinc mine. The mountain itself, as I learnt in the mineral section of the Mint museum, contains at least silver, gold, tin, copper, zinc, nickle and aluminium ores. We pressed into the narrow mine, which was virtually flat into the mountain for its most part. In several places the walls were shored up with wood, some of which was largely cracked and breaking.

We pressed on and I was shown an alter to which the miners pray for safety. The further in we went, the more we were forced to duck to almost crawling to fit through the gaps in the rock. Large pits where a mineral seam had been followed down stretched away in places and care was taken to avoid these. At the end of the tunnels we found a miner at work, placing mineral rocks into a wheel barrow. He passed us twice while we were exploring. His only tools were a shovel and a pick axe, there was evidence of blasting but none while we were present.

I was told that the man would be paid £5 for 8 hours of back breaking dangerous pit work. It was about then that the reality of the mine really started to hit. Hundreds die annually in the mines, apparently two had done so the day before I visited. It is estimated that since colonial times the mine has claimed somewhere between 6 and 8 million lives. The dust thrown up by the mining activity is the main cause of death. The average worker started in the mine aged about 14 and was lucky to live to 30 years old. It is the blood of the indigenous people that stains those church alters, candlesticks and other silver items.

The mountain itself is apparently several hundred meters smaller than it first was and is still shrinking my 1cm per year. The use of explosives to blast on the surface as banned when several hundred people died in a single land slip caused by such blasting. The mountain itself shows little sign of this ban as all surfaces resemble a open cast mine, on top of the deep shafts sunk into it.

After leaving the mine and a nice lunch we set off for the 3.5 hour drive to Uyuni. The scenery slowly changed from fairly steep lush mountainous terrain to drier, rolling hills. The road at times looked like a white snake carved into the side of the mountains we passed. The drying hills, with large cacti rising up out of the rocks gave way to occasional lush green valleys. These became fewer and the riverbeds we passed became more frequently dry and lifeless.

Eventually we came into vew of the salt flats over several hills and then followed the road down into the town of Uyuni. The hotel I am staying at was through this town and out into the desert beyond. It stands on a lone outcrop of rocks several kilometers out into the flat desert and gives fantastic views of the area, bounded by snow peaked mountains in the far distance.

On the way in we'd seen large dark clouds raining in the distance and these clouds continue to build and drift over the desert as I started on a walk around the hotel area. As I was starting my walk back to the hotel complex I noticed a small puff of sand being picked up by the wind in the distance. Quite earily this cloud of dust grew until it stretched out for most of the horizon. Luckily I made it back to the hotel just as this passed but it was getting a little frightening for a few minutes, mostly in fear of having my camera sandblasted in the dust storm.

Tonight I ate in the restaurant here with Roberto, my guide, and then played pool and table football against him in the games room before we parted to our respective rooms.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to the salt flats themselves, currently a few cm underwater and looking rather mirror like from a distance. As there is no internet here I'll just post this when I next can.

Goodnight for now.