Tim Day 43 to 44 (Potosi)

Day 43 (Continued)
We went to the musuem later that day and it was pretty interesting. Ana´s stomach was hurting pretty good and she keep having to sit down to make it feel better. Poor thing. My stomach was hurting as well but not that bad. Our tour guide was pretty funny. Very proud of his country (Bolivia) and listening to him talk about his people and how they were so much better gave me allot of insight into how some of the people think here. He was an educated guy for the area but it was so clear that he hadn´t seen much of the world yet. He struggled with people and problems I think he would have looked at so differently if he had travelled. He wondered why people don´t travel to Bolivia. He had no idea that his situation was so strange and tough to travel too. Interesting tour. We did see some of the early machines that minted money back in the hay day of the city.

After the museum we went to another tower that was a tourist trap. It was interesting though winding up the extremely tight stairs to get to the top. The stairs were made for elves. The walls were so tight both my shoulders rubbed the sides all the way up and the stairs pretty much turned on a dime. It reminded me of trying to go up stairs on a kids playground. Ana was freaking out a little but made it to the top. On the top we had a really great view of the city and the famous mountain that had killed 8 million people. Was funny to look at a city built on what people pulled from the mountain. Crazy to think that so many people gave their lives to pull silver and other elements from it. Man and his search for minerals.

We ate that night again at the restaurant we found that we loved. The food was great as well as the service. That night I got a Filet Minon steak wrapped in bacon and a drink for a US 3.00. Not bad and it was excellent food in a really nice restaurant. I love Bolivia for that. I feel like I can just buy the best of anything. Funny thing is I´m pretty sure with travel, food, and hotel were only spending around 20.00 a day. Not bad. I feel like I´m rich. Nice feeling.

After eating I felt pretty good and Ana was feeling ok. We headed back to our place and I packed for the next day mine trip. I was pretty excited. Although I must say I was a little worried. Bolivia isn´t know for it´s safety measures and I was going into mines that were in a mountain that killed 8 million people. I wonder how many people have actually been in the mountain. I bet my odds were better than I wanted them to be that I would have some kind of accident. I was sure it would be fine but it´s sometimes hard to convince yourself that´s true.

I sleep good that night knowing some large explosions were only hours away.





Day 44
I woke up early and headed out to start the big mine trip. I ate some bread for breakfast and Ana stayed behind to rest up. She also is very scared of tight places and 2-3 hours in a mine wasn’t here idea of a good time. The VW bus stopped outside the hostel to pick me and another guy up. Of course there were 15 people all crammed in this little mini bus. I had a half seat to sit on and we took off down the street to get our gear. We stopped at a little place and they gave us some rubber boots to wear as shoes, a pair of pants and jacket, and a helmet with a light and battery pack on our back. Was pretty cool. One of the guides was really funny and animated and I made sure to get in his group when we headed out to the Miner´s Market.

The Miner´s Market is basically a bunch of small street venders that sell dynamite and all the equiptment you need to be a miner to anyone right on the street. Was funny to see about 20 different street venders each with piles of 50-100 sticks of dynamite on old boards or on the ground. The sold the fuses and all you need to create a massive bomb. The cool thing was anyone could buy it. Some minors would even send there 11 year old kids to buy dynamite and supplies for them. The guy said that sometimes there are accidents that happen because of that. Sad but true.

Our guide began to talk to our group of 5 (4 guys and 1 girl) about the dynamite. He was joking around and dropping the dynamite on the ground. I was a little worried the way he was joking around but the other guys were really getting scared. I trusted the guide and he seemed like a really smart guy. Also he had worked for 6 years in the mine before he became a guide. I trusted he had allot of experience and knew what he was doing. But I must say when anyone throws live dynamite really hard to the ground right in front of you you can´t help but flinch a little. Was pretty funny watching the girls and the two other guys look at each other while the guide was joking around.

The guide proceeded to show us how you make a bomb. He put the detonator into the stick of dynamite and got his lighter out and was joking around as if he was going to light the dynamite. He actually was sparking the flame right onto the fuze. It was pretty funny and I know you can just pull the light fuze out if you had to. But still doesn´t make you feel any better.

After the guide was done joking around and talking about dynamite we proceeded to buy gifts for the miners in the mine and any dynamite we wanted to light off afterwards. I wanted to buy 5 sticks of dynamite and light them all off at once but I was starting to freak out the group. I decided to just buy three and call that ok. In hindsight I wish I got 5 but oh well. Next trip I´ll just have to do 10. I think that would be pretty cool.

We all loaded up into the van and headed down the road to see the processing plants. You know it´s a funny felling having a bus load of people all holding dynamite. I had 4 sticks in my hand ( 1 stick was a present for the miners) and I´m sure there were at least another 15 sticks in the van. We were a rolling bomb. The dynamite, amonium nitrate, fuzes, and detenators were all in cheap plastic bags rolling all over the floor of the van. I would have felt better if the guides were older but most of them looked about 18 years old. Interesting. Interesting.

We got to the processing plant and it was nice to get out of the cramped - explosion waiting to happen - van. We walked around the plant and were told about life in the mines today. In fact there were 600 different mines in the mountain. Only 200 were being used currently. 12,000 workers worked in the mines each day. The mines were slow when we were there since it was the last day of Carnival and allot them were out partying. Carnival in Bolivia was bigger than xmas. I also found out that most of the miner groups were families. 80 percent in fact were groups of brothers, fathers, cousins, etc that worked in separate mine shafts. They would work together to sell the rocks they pulled out to these plants by the ton. Very interesting. The worked average of 10-12 hours a day and most (if not all) the work by hand using a hammer and chisel to carve out 20 inch holes in the hard volcanic rock to place dynamite in. Average hole took from 3 – 10 hours to complete depending on the strength of the person and the hardness of the rock. Unbelievable in a time like this they don´t have hydraulic drills. I guess they did before when the government was running the mine. But the people became lazy and the market fell on silver so the government turned it back into a cooperative mine. Which basically means that the people work for themselves and need only give 20 percent of the money made to the government.

Was fascinating to hear the guide talk. In that town there is no real opportunity to do anything outside of the mine. Guys were born into it and it was an ok living. You made about 1,500 American dollars a year doing it. Which is about the same as a teacher. They obviously worked much harder and longer but in the end made the same wages. The thing that really sucked was that most people don´t last more than 10 years in the mine. They develope repritory problems and often die. Really sucks but it's real and 12,000 people go to the mines everyday and live that life. Really interesting to experience. Makes America seem so rich. Although I must say working with family and spending that much time together isn't nessasarly a bad life. Even if you only grow to be 40-50 years old. I often wonder how much better out lives are then the people who work the mine. I wonder if our quality of life is as good as theirs. I know I didn't have much of a life in America working my 60-80 hour weeks. Not much time with the ones I loved. I sat in my office mine and worked away with poeple I felt no connnection too and we were so professional we were inhuman to each other. Wonder how much better that life is even if I live another 20 years than them.

We toured around the plant. They had large machines that would crush the rocks then through a chemical process the silver, lead, and zinc would rise to the top in a thick grey looking sand solution. Was nice to see the highly toxic chemical cyanide(sp?) just sitting out in the open in large quantities. They say if the workers work for to many years there they have problems with their lungs. No shit sherlock.

The plant tour was interesting and after we drove the VW bus bomb to the mountain and the opening of the mine. We put on our gear, turned on our lights and headed inside the tunnel. In the begining the tunnel wasn't to bad. I had some head room and the walls looked ok. There wasn't much timber supporting the walls but the guide said the rock was really hard and they didn't need that much. I was thinking wood was really expensive and they didn't want to use anymore than they had to. Also there were no computers or scientist telling these poeple how to support the walls. They just for some reason thought certain areas were ok without wood beam support and others were fine without. Whatever.

The entrance to the cave had about 3-5 inches of water but as we pushed further into the mine the water dried and the mine hot dusty and hot. Also the ceiling began to get shorter and shorter. Next thing you know I was in a constant bend over position trying to walk and keep up with the 4 foot elf guide who seemed to have no problem flying through the mine. In fact the pace was getting so fast that I was feeling ill. I was sweating walking bent over and inhailing tons of dusty dirt from the air. It was really bad and I keep hoping the huge wad of coca leafs I had in my check would help me fell better. The locals in the mine all chew coca leaves to supress their appetite (Because they only eat before and after work, never while in the mine) and to keep them buzzing all day long.

We ended up passing one of the miners who looked like he was running in the mine. He was sweating and his eyes were red and glazzed. He looked a little zombie like and not fully coherant. He had a huge check of coca leaves and the guide and him talked in an old indian language called Ketchuan.

After meeting that guy we walked a little furthur and got to the little musuem they had down there. Basically it was a cave with about 5 lifesize figures made out of clay in their and a whole bunch of articles posted to the walls. It was hot and dusty but we stayed their for about 15 minutes looking at all the stuff.

The one interesting sculpture was of a devil. They call the devil "el tio" which means uncle in spanish. They think the devil owns the mountain and the caves and when they are getting to rocks they are in his home. They don´t see him as a bad but more like an uncle. They give the sculptures coca leaves and other offering to please him and hopefullly bring them good fortune when they are mining. Very interesting feeling being in the mine with so much stuff and with so many people who really believe in the devil and the fact that were in his home. Very sureal. I gave some coca leaves to the devil as well for save journeys. Couldn´t hurt. I still needed to be in that mine for another few hours.

One thing also that was really funny was that there were streammers and confetti all over the floor. They had been celebrating carnival in the mine in the previous days. So funny to think that they would do that. I swear latin people and thier carnival.
We took off out of the museaum and headed to visit a 53 year old man working by himself in a upper level mine shaft. The couple in our 5 person group were starting to freak out from being so deep in the cave and wanted to turn back. The group leader convinced them to continue. We climbed and crawled up a narrow shaft that winded a little way back and sure enough there he was. An older Bolivian man taking his lunch. Lunch for miners means putting another huge mouthful of coca leaves in your check. They don´t eat. They also will take a drink of their inexpensive 90 proof alcohol. Nice.

The man had decided to work during the last day of Carnival because he said he was tired of the parties. To many in his life he said. He would rather be by himself pounding his hammer and chissel all day long in a deep dark mine. His body and face were really worn. He reminded me of my grandpa shippers. He was dark skinned, skinny, worn, and hard as a rock. I'm sure he could kick my ass in the mine if we were to dig together. Powerful man with what seemed like a very gentle and meek nature. He did joke around a little in spanish. He said I was too tall and fat to work in the mine. I agreed laughing. I told him I ate to many taco´s and beer. Was funny and when he laughed he laughed from his heart. His teeth were black and you could tell he chewed coca leaves everyday of his life.

He let us try and hammer for a while and I got a chance to try. Let me tell you that is mind numbing business. Clinck, clinck, clinck all day long. You either do that or try and clear rocks down the shaft to be taken outside. Either way both jobs suck.
We gave him a stick of dynamite and a large coke as a gift for letting us in his mine and we headed out. The couple couldn't take anymore mine and had to leave. They were escorted outside by another guide. We continued without them. We headed to a lower shaft mine. Let me tell you it was tough just to walk around. I was either crawling or just barely not crawling the whole rest of the way. It was hot, dusty, and the altitude (13,000+) was really making my stomach feel like shit. I had to stop a few times and just catch my breath. I was caughing and could feel all the dirt in my throat. In fact I felt dirt in my throat till the next day.

We made down some ladders and into another mine shaft where a kid (13) and his dad were. The dad was working and the kid was there for protectoin from "uncle tio". The miners believe that tio walks around the mines during carnival and that miner needed his kid with him to make sure he was safe during this time. The kid just sat there and watched his dad working. They had no regulations their on age and some kids from 12 and above are working in the mines. I don´t think they are forced to but go with the family and they are being taught. Who knows maybe they are being pressured to work by their families.

Anyway we left them after talking for a while and headed to the exit. That was a nice feeling. Finally we saw the light at the end of the tunnel and it was a great site. The air was clean and cool and the daylight burned my eyes when I got out.
We were put together with about 10 other people and it was now time to make the bombs. The guides sat on the floor and assembled the bombs. Looked like a bunch of kids. They used a plastic bottle and trashbags to hold the parts together. My guide assembled my 3 dynamite bomb and I took a picture with it. Then once all 7 or so bombs were complete they all tried to light them at the same time? Let´s just say it went about as good as I expected.

One guy had a cigarette and was trying to light the fuze. By the way the fuzes were a one minute fuze so lighting them around the same time was important because you had to run and place them on the side of the hill and get back. One guy with a lighter that barely worked got his light. Then he gave it to the tourist who posed for a picture with it. Meanwhile none of the other sticks were light. Finally some of the others started getting light. Meanwhile I'm thinking in my head were about 20 seconds into it and the guy still can't find a lighter to light my bomb. He's asking "anyone got a lighter". The first guy has already placed his bomb and is on his way back when they finally got my bomb light. I know it was at least 30 seconds since the first one was light and he was trying to give the 3 dynamite bomb to me to go run and place it. I said hell no you do it. I would need to run the furthest place the bomb then run back through the feild of bombs to get back. Fuck that.

So he ran down the street and placed the bomb in the back. He proceded to run directly up the hill away from the bombs. He wasn´t to far out of the way when the first one went off. The precussion was intense. You could feel it on your body and it was REALLY cool. I was laughing as all 6 other single dynamite bombs exploded. At the end my bomb went of and you could feel the power had really intensified. It had a large volume to the explosion and the precusion was the strongest. It was all really cool and something I´ve always wanted to do my whole life. I must say I felt much more at ease once all the dynamite had exploded. I felt lucky nothing bad had happened and glad I did all of it without geting hurt. Damn the whole day was full of potential of getting hurt. But I made it through with no problems and it was really cool.

We drove back and Ana was glad to see me with all my body parts. I was extermely tired when I got to my hostel. I was dirty and showered and layed down. It felt so nice. The whole experience of the mine keep me buzzing for most of the rest of the day. The adventure mixed with the lifestyle these people lived really turned me around inside. Was a moving experience and one I'll never forget.
We ran erronds most of that evening and waited for out night bus to La Paz. We got to the train station around 8:00 and it was a mad house. People everywhere and we were so protective of our belongings. Everyone keeps reminding us "watch your bags". I´m all worried and I´m hidding and locking everything. I hate living like that but you need to here. It´s just the way things work. I feel like an animal and it´s very stressful. But what can I do. Roll with the punches.

We got on the bus and it was an ok ride. We were happy to see they gave us tickets for our bags. That means there are better odds at the end of the trip our bags will still be there. We sleep ok on the bus. Stupid thing was they stopped at 12:30 for half an hour to eat dinner. Crazy Bolivians. Bunch of them got out and ate. Nasty. My stomach was off and the altitude changes were messing with me.
Sleep pretty good on the bus despite everything.

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