Potosi, down the mines.

From Sucre we travelled by taxi for 2 hours to Potosi, the worlds highest city at 4090m. We were really worried about Altitude sickness but it was mostly ok. It has now however got very cold!!!

The only thing to see in Potosi are the mines of the Cerro Rico. The miners have a really a really hard life. Some of them are as young as 12 or 13 trying to support their families. Better wage than the average Bolivian but life expectancy is really low because of Silicosis of the lungs.

Check out the alcohol the miners drink on fridays, 97% proof!! We went on a Thursday so we were encouraged not to buy this as presents and opted for juice, cocoa leaves and dynamite instead. Don't think they need much encouraging on the drink front.

Ed made it down the mine but I only managed the trip up and into the refinery before freaking out at how small the tunnels were.

Not really miners but doing a good impression

These are the real ones

Crawling through that would definitely have made me look that freaked out

This is the God or really the Devil Tio that the miners worship to keep them safe. They are pretty scared of him. Rightly so, check out his willy! They give Pachamama style offerings to him of booze, fags and sweets and ask him to keep them safe.

I spent 2 hours outside the mine with Kally the 10 year old above. She lives on the edge of the mine so not a great place . She was cool though telling me all about Adam and Eve etc. She certainly knew more about the bible than I did.