PotosiJul 19, 2010
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| .The last day of la Paz was busy and filled with errands. I had laundry done, posted suveniers and went shopping is second hand stores for warmer clothes for the next week or so of icy cold weather. I had many bus issues. I bought my bus ticket in a bus with a bed called a cama bus from a travel agency. I paid 15$ for it which is kind of pricey but I know the agency gets a cut of it. When I arrive to the bus station feeling a little under the weather I find i was booked on a normal bus that costs five dollars. My ticket said cama so i put up my fight. The bus company said it was the agencies deal. So I used a phone for the first time in south america. Some teenage boys helped me dial and such. Again I can speak Spanish really well when um mad. The lady told me there were no cama buses in that company which is a lie cause I saw them anyways after five minutes of arguing she said I can get some money back from the agency when I'm in a town where they have an agency. So still feeling a little funny in the tummy I get on the bus and try to fall asleep. My stomach gets worse and I'm just glad I'm by the window. About thirty minutes in The bus stops to pick up more people. I ask my neighbor if there is a bathroom and I bolt off leaving my bags on the bus. I didn't make it to the bathroom but hurled in the middle of a crazy busy intersection. There were three buses all loading people and people waiting around to get on buses. I got a whistle call from one guy and another yelled sexy! I returned to the bus and decided I should not be on a twelve hour bus puking. So I get my bag the worker takes my ticket and I go back on the bus to get my other bags. I go to the office to try to change my ticket to the next day so I can stay in a hostel. They ask for my ticket and it has gone missing. I can't find it anywhere and assume in the mess of my brain it was just gone. So they say the bus is still here you can get on. So I do. Thirty minutes later we are at a border The last day of la Paz was busy and filled with errands. I had laundry done, posted suveniers and went shopping is second hand stores for warmer clothes for the next week or so of icy cold weather. I had many bus issues. I bought my bus ticket in a bus with a bed called a cama bus from a travel agency. I paid 15$ for it which is kind of pricey but I know the agency gets a cut of it. When I arrive to the bus station feeling a little under the weather I find i was booked on a normal bus that costs five dollars. My ticket said cama so i put up my fight. The bus company said it was the agencies deal. So I used a phone for the first time in south america. Some teenage boys helped me dial and such. Again I can speak Spanish really well when um mad. The lady told me there were no cama buses in that company which is a lie cause I saw them anyways after five minutes of arguing she said I can get some money back from the agency when I'm in a town where they have an agency. So still feeling a little funny in the tummy I get on the bus and try to fall asleep. My stomach gets worse and I'm just glad I'm by the window. About thirty minutes in The bus stops to pick up more people. I ask my neighbor if there is a bathroom and I bolt off leaving my bags on the bus. I didn't make it to the bathroom but hurled in the middle of a crazy busy intersection. There were three buses all loading people and people waiting around to get on buses. I got a whistle call from one guy and another yelled sexy! I returned to the bus and decided I should not be on a twelve hour bus puking. So I get my bag the worker takes my ticket and I go back on the bus to get my other bags. I go to the office to try to change my ticket to the next day so I can stay in a hostel. They ask for my ticket and it has gone missing. I can't find it anywhere and assume in the mess of my brain it was just gone. So they say the bus is still here you can get on. So I do. Thirty minutes later we are at a border point stopped so I open the window the man behind me grabs the window and closes it. I tell him I'll puke on him open the window and go again. The driver came back and gave me Plastic bags as I guess he didn't like me hanging out his window. Luckly the bag was only used once and the rest of the ride was pleasant sleeping. I am now in potosi and doing a tour of a silver mine. The silver mine tour was interesting and a little eye opening. We first got geared up in rubber boots vinal pants jacket a helmet with a light attached to a belt battery. We were recommended to wear a bandana over our faces for the dust. We were told it is hot down in the mines so not to wear many clothes under. Therefore the first three hours of the tour were spent cold. We first went to the miners market where they sell dynomite, tools, clothes, and alcohol. The alcohol they sell is 97% and if you drink half a bottle your brain will fry and you will go blind. They always pour the first sip on the ground for mother nature. They make a wish or ask her for good silver health or safety. Each o us got a small cap to try. It didn't tast too bad but what was left on my lips immediately evaported. It was a cool funny feeling. We went and got coca leaves for the miners. I got some more for myself and also got the ash that is used as a catalyst with the coca to give more efficient results and a better taste. They use quinoa, banana, or some other ash as the catalyst. We then went to the refinery where they pull the silver from the rocks. They first make mud out of the rocks then mix it with chemicals and lastly scoop the foam from the top of the liquid. The foam contains silver partials then they use a pan type thing and water to pan for the silver just like panning for gold. We got a chance at it. We went to the mines next and it was very challenging. I hit my head every two minutes. Much of the tunnel required bending over and walking. Some parts required crawling on hands and knees. There were ricketty ladders to crawl down and some steep hills to slide down on our bums. We went to the fourth level down. It was a total of 75 meters below where we entered. We met four miners. One was fifteen one sixteen who had been working in the mines for three years. The dust causes lung disease within fifteen years in the mines. The people work eight or more hours a day and make $150 a month. The other two miners were older and had been working about fifteen years. The people work foe small companies and have different jobs within the mine. Before the mines were run by the government. Now there is less silver but still aparently enough to be mined. There was alot of trash alonthe paths. There was a small rail line which they use carts to haul the dirt Md ro ms with the silver. They have people manually push and pull two tons at a time. They have small elevators with a pully system they use to get it from one Level to the next. There was a small shrine that the miners give gifts to for good luck. They need to give to mother earth in order to have good luck. They give gifts of alchohol food flowers and water to mother earth generally on Fridays. Especially the first and third Friday of the month. There wAs wTer along the path and bots were even frozen. At some points Icycles formed on the roof of the narrow tunnel. Towards the end of the trip I begN to get scared that the miners would lite dynamite while we were in there and the whole mountain would fall on us. We reached the end and I was relieved. We got a chance to lite dynamite and feel how strong it was. I was amazed to find it shook the ground very hard and that the wic took over two minutes to reach the explosive. All those cartoons of running gave me a wrong impression. We returned to town and I was beat and worn down from a sick night and busy day. I found a hostel snuck in and slept on their couch for three hours before my next bus to uyuni. point stopped so I open the window the man behind me grabs the window and closes it. I tell him I'll puke on him open the window and go again. The driver came back and gave me Plastic bags as I guess he didn't like me hanging out his window. Luckly the bag was only used once and the rest of the ride was pleasant sleeping. I am now in potosi and doing a tour of a silver mine. The silver mine tour was interesting and a little eye opening. We first got geared up in rubber boots vinal pants jacket a helmet with a light attached to a belt battery. We were recommended to wear a bandana over our faces for the dust. We were told it is hot down in the mines so not to wear many clothes under. Therefore the first three hours of the tour were spent cold. We first went to the miners market where they sell dynomite, tools, clothes, and alcohol. The alcohol they sell is 97% and if you drink half a bottle your brain will fry and you will go blind. They always pour the first sip on the ground for mother nature. They make a wish or ask her for good silver health or safety. Each o us got a small cap to try. It didn't tast too bad but what was left on my lips immediately evaported. It was a cool funny feeling. We went and got coca leaves or the miners. I got some more for myself and also got the ash that is used as a catalyst with the coca to give more efficient results and a better taste. They use quinoa, banana, or some other ash as the catalyst. We then went to the refinery where they pull the silver from the rocks. They first make mud out of the rocks then mix it with chemicals and lastly scoop the foam from the top of the liquid. The foam contains silver partials then they use a pan type thing and water to pan for the silver just like panning for gold. We got a chance at it. We went to the mines next and it was very challenging. I hit my head every two minutes. Much of the tunnel required bending over and walking. Some parts required crawling on hands and knees. There were ricketty ladders to crawl down and some steep hills to slide down on our bums. We went to the fourth level down. It was a total of 75 meters below where we entered. We met four miners. One was fifteen on sixteen who had been working in the mines for three years. The dust causes lung disease within fifteen years in the mines. The people work eight or more hours a day and make $150 a month. The other two miners were older and had been working about fifteen years. The people work foe small companies and have different jobs. They each do something different and all make money according to how much silver they get. The silver runs on veins so when vein is found are more proffitsble. |
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