At 4200metres we entered the mine after purchasing dynamite and detonators, and putting on some sexy safety gear.
We got a dynamite demonstration above ground which was entertaining. Glen filmed it but the camera goes wild everytime something explodes, funny to watch.
2 people of our group had to pull out within the first ten minutes due to claustrophia and altitude sickness, the 3 of us (Alex was with us) spent about 2 hours down the mines seeing 15 year olds working, we got down to level 4 after crawling through some pretty small holes and passageways. 15000 people work in the mountain everyday hoping to strike it rich, not many do. But only 30 people perish a year from the mines directly and I was impressed that number was so low – most miners don’t make it to 40 due to lung problems. The mines are the only reason Potosi exists – a few centuries ago it was the richest city in the world before the Spanish emptied the mountain and city of it’s silver.
