We took a bus from Sucre to Potosi, a few hours away. On the way we were provided a fantastic light show, being so high up we could see huge thunder and lightning storms happening miles and miles away. It was amazing. On the road we would also find many dogs, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, there is a huge amount of them in the cities too but it is interesting to find so many in the arid mountainside. Every so often you would see people walking along the road too, heading from one village to the next, which are many miles apart. I just hoped the storms didn't head our way and catch them out.

Potosi is the highest city of its kind in the world at 4,090 metres above sea level and another World Heritgage Site . It is famous for its silver mine, where the Spanish over two hundred years from 1546 enslaved thousands upon thousands of Bolivians and also Africans, who were shipped in. They were made to work the famous mountain, Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), that overlooks the city. Millions died working in horrendous conditions and for little to no pay, our guide told us that they were paid the equivalent in today's money of $0.50 a week, working 16 plus hours a day. My Mum told me there was a documentary on the mines a few days beforehand at home.

A few of us took a tour of the mine the following day, the guide books call it a harrowing experience and not for those with breathing difficulties or claustrophobia and paints a picture of a difficult experience. However, and I say this genuinely as someone who does not like enclosed spaces, it was nowhere near as bad as the guide books (LP, RG, IG) said and not like the experience it claims. This led us to believe that the places they take tourists are specific tunnels and areas, and we saw noone working there . Certainly nobody had worked the area we went in for some years, the track for ferrying rock and mineral out was broken beyond repair and there was no signs of recent activity.

There are about 100 left working the mine who work in cooperatives and get a very good wage these days, although the working conditions haven't improved that much. You are inside for only an hour. You do see the devil God, Tio, who the miners worship to watch over them during their work. he sits as the beginning of the opening. They worship Tio on the dark and God in the light. They leave him offerings each day.

The beginning of the trip involves going to a market to buy things for the miners before you go into the mines. Our local guide gave us the low down on what to buy, although as we never saw any it was kind of pointless. We bought Coco leaves for them to chew on, which apparently helps with getting through the day, it turns your mouth numb and helps the mind (very good for altitude sickness too) . We also bought, smokes and sticks of dynamite and animal nitrate, all for the measley price of 10 Bolivianos the lot, one pound! And it is all legal, apparently the only place in the world. Where else can you buy dynamite and animal nitrate, all on the black list in the western world so cheaply and easily? Crazy stuff, and you can buy as much as you want. Later we got a demonstration of the dynamite outside the mine, powerful and dangerous gear. The sad thing was that we didn't see any mioners to give them to, so our guide gave them to some locals outside the mine and pocketed some money on the sly, which someone from our group saw. Other groups we met had similar experiences.

Nonetheless, the mines are harrowing in their history and it is humbling to be in a city where you can see the historic grandeur in its beautiful buildings, contrasted with the poverty that surrounds it. You really can see waht it was once like.