on our last night in La Paz we went to the movies.. it was like enteriing into a different world. outside poverty and inside you had the impression you were in Europe... The highlight of the evening wasnt so much the film but the visit to the toilets which had automatic flushes and automatic ater for the hand basin... kind of crazy how suddnely you appreciate these luxuries of our world... It was like we stepped into another world for a couple of ours... Leaving the building it was like stepping back into reality.. the taxi ride back to the hotel a bit scary as we took a very different route but I was grateful that 2 of the guys from our group were with us...
After a 10 hour drive from La Paz we arrived in Potosi, which is a town famous for mining.. there are about 5000 mines here. Whilst we were all a bit nervous about visiting the mines ( the rough guide and Lonely planet did both not present it as the safest of activities to do) 4 of us girls and one guy went on the quest to discover one of the mines... Before heading to the mines we stopped to get a proper outfit including the hat with torch, some boots, pants and a jacket.. was sooo weired so as we had to walk through this butcher shop with half a dead cow hanging there before getting to this little backyard where they gave us our gear. Our next stop was the miners market where we purchased gifts for the miners including: DYNAMITE, yes you read correctly, Coca leafes ( the usually have a whole big ball of them in their mouth), crackers as well as 96% alcohol again yes you read correctly 96%. They use this alcohol as an offering to Pachamama which is their kind of god/mother earth. After they spil a bit on the floor they do have a zip of it.. crazy stuff that is...
So loaded with dynamite we went off to the mines and made our way most of the time bend over through these little tunnels. The air (which apparently is pretty toxic) was really dusty and you had to watch your step ( quite a few holes down there) as well as your head ( as it is pretty low)-. We watched the miners work and gave them our gifts... The minimum age to start working there is 12 and due to the bad working conditions the miners dont tend to get older than 50... once they have extracte minerals ´helpers´carry bags weighing 50kg sometimes for more than even 2 hours... outsid ethe mine women will sort the minerals until they are send to to be processed. It quite a shocking experience down there... by the end of it we were all quite happy to be back in the daylight.
Whats also intersting is that the miners worship the devil... in every mine there is a devil statue. they will sprinkle it with coca leafes, alcohol and light a special cigarette and stick it in his mouth.. he is also dressed like a miner. another remarkable feature is his manhood which if you touch it you may make a wish.. the size was so big to ensure that the Pachama ( mother earth represented by another little statue) would be interested in him and they would thus produce ¨fertile¨in other words mineral rich mines. Thats also the reason why the miners give so many offerings to the devil in order to keep him ´happy´...
Bolivia has not been easy on our stomachs... I am starting to feel it again.. it really sucks that it sort of doesnt matter what you eat... One of the guys who was the one with the 2 parasites is down again.. so as much as this country is beautiful ( especially the lamas and alpacas which stare at our bus as we drive past) we are kinda excited to be in Argentina in about a week. haha.
I finally uploaded a few photos from Peru still not many as the internet is very slow. but here is the link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39969&id=272900519&l=466615e1b5
