Paris France, Madrid Spain, and Potosi Bolvia. Wait! What? Potosi is an old mining town that used to have a booming population thanks to the rich silver in the surrounding mountain. The population dropped when the silver was overmined. Today the minerals mined there are zinc, tin, lead, and silver brought from deep within the earth. And deep with the earth was where we planned on going.
Once again Jenna and I were part of an international group -Germany, Holland, Canada, Columbia, Chile, and Mexico. Our tour began at the miners market where we were informed that "today is a special day because it's Friday." Friday is payday and therefore the day that all of the miners buy coco leaves (for chewing), cigarettes, 98% alchohol for drinking, and dynamite all for their eight to ten hour day in the mines. I am constantly reminded that I am in South America where safety is never a concern.
Our group geared up in our miners suits, rubber boots, hard hats, and headlamps with battery pack. We climed down broken ladders and shimmied down small shafts with our treasures from the market as offerings to the miners. Our decending adventure took us 110 meters (360 feet) deep into the mountain where some of us (Jenna) helped the miners and gave them our offerings.
Is that dynamite I hear? Right. Can we go back up now?
Once back above ground we played with our own dynamite. Our guide lit the bomb, passed it around like a hot potato to the eager boys in our group dying (no pun intended) for photos, and at the last minute ran it to the edge of the cliff for us all to witness the big explosion.
After that grand finale Jenna and I had lunch at a great restaurant, San Martin. We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around town all the way back to the bus station. Next stop, La Paz!
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