It's Dark as a Dungeon Way Down in the Mine

Finally got out of La Paz. Due to some festival or another going on, three consecutive buses to Potosi sold out, se we had an extra day to kill. Still smarting from the loss of my camera (all that trying to really "see" nonsense was really just my attempt to smother my explosive rage over whoever took my camera) we decided to visit the ruins of Tihuanacu, about an hour outside of La Paz.

They weren't all that impressive, but I dont know if our overall sour mood was due to the fact that the ruins weren't that great or that we were just pissy because we lost a day due to circumstances beyond our control. Either way, we saw them. The Tihaunacu were a pre Incan civilization who controlled an enormous empire before falling due to reasons that are still a mystery today. When the Spanish first rolled through they used a lot of the rocks from the temples to line railway beds and build churches. We even saw one church where you can still see the idols used as bricks in the construction. The Spanish really knew how to vanquish a foe physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Right now the internet cafe is playing "I Will Survive," is there anywhere in the world I can go to escape this wretched song?

That night we caught a 8:00 bus to Potosi, a place that bills itself as the world's highest city. I dont know what they consider a city to be, but at 4067 m its high enough for me. Fortunately we've been at altitude long enough to not be overly affected. The bus was just as pleasant as one would expect a 10 hour all night bus in Bolivia to be. We actually made great time and got in to Potosi a little early, 5:30 AM. Found a hotel on our second try and crashed for a couple hours.

We got up in time to see what really makes Potosi famous. Forget about its height above sea level, Potosi is all about silver, or rather was all about silver. No one knows for sure how much silver the Spanish took out of the mountains around the town before the veins were exhausted, but one fantastical tidbit I read stated enough to build a solid silver bridge back to Spain and still have silver left over to bring across. Suffice to say, a lot of silver. Today the mines still function, but mainly the miners look for zinc and tin. For a nominal fee we signed up for a tour.

First we stopped to get kitted out. Pants and jackets to protect our clothes, wellington boots, and an honest to god helmet and headlamp combo that every miner in every picture (mental or otherwise) you've ever seen has. Our next stop was a local store. Since we would be touring actual functioning mines with actual functioning miners, it would be important to bring them gifts. We all contributed 10 Bolivianos (about $1.20) to our guide Oswaldo. He bought cigarettes, orange soda, some sort of 192 proof alcohol that smells like what I use to clean the white boards back at school, work gloves, and lots and lots of coca leaves. As I believe I reported from the Coca museum in La Paz, chewing coca leaves has always gone hand in hand with working in the mines. In fact the Church reversed their stance on their diabolical nature once it was determined that (slave) indigenous labor could work for 48 consecutive hours while chewing the coca leaves. I bought some cigarettes too (not to smoke, don't worry, Ill get to their significance...) as well as a stick of dynamite, a fuse, and a bag of ammonium nitrate which intensifies the explosion. My total bill? 15 Bolivianos.

We were finally ready for the mine. As we headed in it imnmediately became dark and wet, although not too cramped. In most places I could walk completely upright. Daylight disappeared behind us as we ventured deeper and deeper into the earth. As we walked Oswaldo explained a bit about the life of a miner. The avg. life expectancy was about 45 due to particulates inhaled on the job. He went on to say that as dangerous as the job was, its still pretty much the best job Bolivians can get in terms of salary. They harbor no illusions as to their longevity of the safety of the job, which is one of the reasons they all drink heavily on the job. (And why we bought the hooch back in town).

Each group of miners we passed, Oswaldo gave some sort of gift to, coca leaves, a shot of booze, work gloves etc... For each shot he offered, he did one himself, sometimes two or three. We met one guy named "Killer" whose job it was to drill holes to place dynamite in to extend tunnels. He had a wad of coca leaves the size of a racquetball jammed into his cheek, and while we were talking he did at least three shots of super booze, Oswaldo matching him shot for shot. He then proceeded to drill the holes without apparent ill effect. (Remember, Im observing all of this with a layman´s eye)

We were supposed to meet with some other miners who would drill holes for Chris and I to put our dynamite in. Oswaldo, who I now suspect was quite drunk, kept calling for them, but to no avail. Finally he just took Chris and I around the corner where we just lit the fuses and left them at the end of the tunnel, just on the ground, not in any pre-drilled holes. He assured us that they were 5 minute fuses and that there was no need to hurry. We moseyed back around the corner, and about 3 minutes later, just as Chris was putting in his ear plugs, there was adeafening boom! followed shortly by another. Our group was rather horrified, but I believe its a fairly common occurence on these tours.

On our way out we stopped to visit Tio, the devil-like guardian of the mines. On their way in each day miner´s leave offerings like coca leaves, alcohol, Oswaldo helped himself to Tio´s booze (which I believe may be bad voogum, I kept thinking about Jo-Boo needing a refill in Major League), and I gave him the cigarettes I bought. (See, I told you I´d get to those.)

We left Potosi after just 24 hours, heading further south to the suprisingly pleasant town of Tupeza. We have descended to about 2900 m, and everything looks like Arizona. We got into town on a sleepy sunday afternoon and it was virtually deserted. The old west vibe continued and I kept thinking we were going to get in a shoot out. You can see how Butch and Sundance ended up down here when the heat got too much for them back in the states. Tomorrow, we´re taking off on a 4 day jeep tour of the salt flats around here so I´ll be out of interneting range for a while (I suspect a break from my seemingly ceaseless emails will be a welcome relief for more than a few of you), but I´ll let you know once I get back to civilization.