If dynamite and silver mines are your thing, then you can't go far wrong with a trip to the Bolivian mining town of Potosi. Before arriving there I expected it to be a very small town, but it turned out to be rather large with many different working silver mines that are accessible for tourist just like me. I had not heard of this town until it was suggested by the boys I was with on my salt flats tour, and it sounded like it could be good fun so off we all went along with a few Israeli girls on the bumpy and crowded bus ride from Uyuni. Due to time constraints of the boys and the lack of anything else to do in Potosi, we had to book our tour for our only day there which happened to be a Sunday. This meant that there were not too many miners working and we missed out on seeing it in full swing, but it did mean that the narrow passageways through which we had to pass were not blocked with people working so we could enjoy a little extra space.

Before we reached the mine we stopped off to get into our super hot sexy mine-wear, including jacket, trousers, wellies and helmet complete with head torch and huge battery pack. Once we were appropriately dressed we headed off, stopping at a shop along the way to purchase some sticks of dynamite (as you do) and fuses etc, as well as some gifts for the miners and the statue of the devil that lives inside the mine. These gifts included cocoa leaves which the miners chew on/eat to assist with the restrictions on their ability to breath in a mine at altitude, and also aid to suppress any hunger pangs that may arise due to the fact that it's not worth them coming out of the mine to get lunch as it takes the whole hour to get out and then back to where they were working. Other gifts were cigarettes, bottles of soft drinks and bottles of almost pure alcohol (96%) which apparently is potable; I resisted the temptation to give this a try after the look on James’ and Oron’s faces when they had a sip!

Upon reaching the mine we did not enter straight away as we first had to blow up some of the dynamite that we had bought. We elected to blow some up outside the mine so that we could see the explosions, but then kept a little extra aside so that we could get the benefit of really hearing the explosions by setting it off inside the mine itself. Typical tourists that we are, we were all very excited to handle the dynamite and pose for photos once it was lit, but before it exploded! I managed to find myself last in the queue for this honor and ended up burning my fingers on the fuse a bit before throwing it back to the guide and running for cover after the others. I had been assured by the guide that there was no need to run as I had at least three minutes before the big bang… turns out I was right to run as only a minute or so passed before it went off and smoke filled the air!

Then came the time to enter the mine and explore the maze of tunnels that run both horizontally and vertically along miniature rail lines and rickety ladders respectively. On our way to the entrance of the mine we met our first miner: a 15 year old boy who was shoveling lumps of silver that had been extracted into boxes – I wondered if he would be receiving a gift of 96% alcohol or cigarettes from us, but the guide decided he should get a bottle of cola. We also met a miner who had been working at the mines for 25 years, he was in his early 40s but looked like he was about 60 – he got some cocoa leaves as a gift.

One of our first stops in the mine was to the statue of the devil, and the first thing that I think we all noticed was that this devil had a gigantic penis which the guide was unable to explain. The statue was surrounded by various offerings along the same lines as the gifts that we had purchased earlier on, and some of our cocoa leaves, cigarettes and the alcohol joined the collection. Apparently the miners come and give gifts to the devil as they believe that if they do not then they will have an accident in the mine. That said, our guide did enjoy smoking a couple of the cigarettes and drinking some of the alcohol before it was set down as an offering to keep us all safe that day.

All in all we spent a couple of hours down the mine, all of us waiting for the chance to blow up our last bit of dynamite! We descended around five or six narrow shafts, each about 10 metres down very unstable ladders which was quite hard work in the awkward outfit and at altitude in an enclosed mine… but not as hard as getting back up again.

When we were at the bottom level of the mine it came time to make an explosion inside the mine. The guide did the honors and advised us all to run run run: so we did. Although I was expecting a pretty big bang, I was not as excited as everyone else as I thought it probably wouldn't be as loud as gunshots on a firing range/half as scary as being stood next to someone else who has no idea how to handle their weapon. When the explosion eventually went off after minutes of tension, it was a lot louder than I had anticipated and was worth the wait… then came the climb back to the top of the mine and the walk back to the entrance/exit. After the mines we got changed back into our normal attire and set off for lunch at the revolving restaurant at the top of a tall tower. The food was rather pricey and not that great, but it was good to get a view of Potosi and see just how far it actually spread.

That evening we headed out to a local nightclub to sample the nightlife as the boys went on a fruitless search of hot Bolivian women, something which also applied to the local guys. All in all it was a very brief trip to Potosi that was fairly action-packed. It will be nice to get to La Paz where I intend to spend a couple of weeks taking a rest from packing/moving around.