Potosi, one of the highest cities in the world at 4,090m, is located 3 hours south of Sucre and we have traveled through it many times on our trips around Bolivia. Even when traveling north to La Paz we have found ourselves staring through the window at the silhouette of Cerro Rico ('Rich Hill.') However, this time we got off the bus to explore...

Founded in 1545, the silver mined from Cerro Rico played a major role in funding the Spanish empire, so much so that the Spanish considered building a bridge back to Spain! Potosi became the largest and wealthiest city of the Americas . Even today, something very lucrative is said to 'vale un Potosi' (be worth a Potosi.) After 1800 the silver mines were depleted, making zinc, lead and tin the main products. This eventually led to a slow economic decline which unfortunately is clear to see today as people struggle to make ends meet.

Nevertheless, the mountain continues to be mined for the precious silver vein and children as young as 14 years old work as miners. Each day approximately 3,000 tonnes of mineral are brought out of Cerro Rico by around 15,000 miners, working in over 500 separate mines. It is thought that there is up to 500km of tunnels within the mountain - this is evident by its symmetrical and discoloured appearance.

Cerro Rico is known as the 'mountain that eats men alive.'  It is believed that up to 9 million people have lost their lives in the last 500 years. Today due to poor worker conditions, the miners have a short life expectancy with most of them contracting silicosis and dying around 40 years of age .

In search of some silver, we set off on a 'mine tour' with our informative guide Rojar, who had worked in the mines until a serious head injury from a falling rock caused early retirement. We had a number of concerns about entering a place which had claimed the lives of so many and also felt uneasy about the voyeuristic factor in seeing other people's suffering whilst working in the most abysmal conditions imaginable.

Our first stop of the morning was the Miners' Market to pick up some gifts for the miners which included coca leaves, cigarettes, 96% alcohol (mainly for El Tio), fruit juice and dynamite. We would eventually offer these to the miners at work deep inside the mountain.

In full attire, we set off, avoiding the mineral trolleys, to find ourselves 1,000m inside Cerro Rico where it was pitch black..dusty..and hot! We scuttled up 20m through a small passage, crudely designed for Bolivian miners as opposed to English tourists, where at the top we met and had a (strong!) drink with some miners. Sam had a go at shoveling..for 30 seconds. Sophie had an uneasy feeling that she shouldn't participate and was later told that women working in the mines brings bad luck. At least we were near the exit by this point where we were introduced to 'El Tio,' a large papier-mache devil with full erection (!) who is worshiped by the miners in the form of frequent offerings to keep them safe and bring them good fortune.

Glad to be out of Cerro Rico, we set off in search of the curative powers of Tarapaya hot springs where we enjoyed floating around this warm volcanic lagoon. We later found out from Rojar that the roped out sections of the lake which we had paid no attention to were there for a reason. Sam thought it was the 'Slow Lane!'  Apparently the volcanic energy gives rise to sudden vortices that can be very dangerous! Maybe the offerings to El Tio had worked for us...

After an energetic swim we enjoyed a meat fondue in La Casona Pub.

We had appreciated Rojar's guiding so much that the following day we went for a trek in the mountains surrounding Potosi. Here we visited the Lagunas de Kari Kari - artificial lakes constructed in the 16th century by indigenous slaves to provide water for the city. Before passing by an indigenous house, Rojar treated us to some traditional windpipe music. When we reached the summit, more offerings of alcohol and coca leaves were made to Pachamama ('Mother Earth.')

Exhausted and with a badly sunburned head (Sam - soon to be 'Frosty the Snowman'), we returned to Sucre - 3 hours...