Yesterday we visited the silver mines of Potosì. It was another incredible and humbling experience. We witnessed miners working with bare hands on their knees picking away at the hard granit rock in an effort to make a living for their families. Other miners pushed 4 ton carts by hand through the mines in badly ventilated shafts working sometimes 15-18 h days. Their average life expectancy is around 15 years afters starting work in the mines, this experience only being softened by the continues chewing of coca leaves, giving them energy and an escape from the incredible physical exhaustion. It seems surreal that such hardship and physical work is even still a possibility in the 21st century.
On a lighter note, we met an wonderful couple from Belgium (Hilde & Patrick). They were on the mining tour with us and we have since arranged our travel plans together. It's exciting to share our experience with other travelers and it makes for a much richer experience.Today we traveled 6 hours by bus to the southwestern city of Uyuni. This town is located on the Altiplano of Bolivia at around 3700m. The landscape from Potosì to Uyuni reminded us a little of the southwest of Utah. It's a desert with lots of fantastic rock formations, canyons, cacti, and of course the worlds largest salt lake.
Tomorrow we are headed on a 3-4 day (depending on snow conditions) tour of the Salar de Uyuni (Salt Lake of Uyuni). More on this landscape from a different planet when we return.
3 comments:
Hi Markus and Anja - It is so much fun to read your blog about all your adventures. Absolutely amazing. You are doing such a great job of keeping us all informed!! Wishing you many more adventurous and safe travels from Carrie, Andy and Mollie in Richfield!
Hey Carrie, Andy, and Mollie
Great to hear from you. I bet Mollie has already grown 3 inches since we left! Is Isaiah flirting with her yet? :) Hope all is well on Logan Ave. We're on our way to Lake Titicaca and on to Peru.
That's an amazing story about the miners.
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