Photos

Potosi is the mining capital of Bolivia, if not of the entire Americas. The mountain called "Cerro Rico" has been mined continuously since the Incas, and it is considered to be one of the main centers of wealth for Colonial Spain. Today - despite the decline in the prices of raw materials such as silver and tin- hundreds of people still enter the intestines of the mountain to find their fortune- usually for less than 10 dollars for 14 hours non-stop work per day.

this particular mine we entered was one of the oldest in the mountain, and had reached 7 levels below the ground level. It took us roughly 2 hours to go down to the third level, from where we returned. The entrance of the mine was at around 4300 meters, meaning below freezing temperature outside in the morning, and inside, the temperature rose up to 40 C as you walked in.

In order to share the suffering and incredibly difficult life of the miners, and to secure income for the mines, some of the mines have been opened to tourism. During the tour one not only sees the medieval working conditions of the mines (ok, perhaps apart from the headlamps, and the rail that goes down to the second level), but also witnesses the sub culture that developed around the mines - with its own deities, celebrations, fears and traditions - pretty much like in Wellsian "Time Machine."

One of these traditions is the heavy consuption of "Coca leaves" (the origin of cocaine) to alleviate the effects of altitude, hunger and heat exhaustion. the leaves are usually placed between the cheek and the teeth, and chewed for a few hours. In the picture, you can see the swollen cheek of the miner because of the coca leaves.

This shot was not arranged, and I did not have my tripod with me, hence the blur and low sharpness. however, i think the blur does add to the atmosphere.