Lauren and Jeff's South American Adventure: Potosi

After Sucre, we were in a hurry to get to La Paz, but we HAD to stop in Potosi along the way. On the way, the bus ascends for hours until you finally reach the bowl and roll over the peaks to see the breathtaking spread of the city in the valley below. Houses cling to the steep sides of the mountains and it looks more like a sold out crowd at a futbol stadium than a city. Potosi sits at a higher altitude than any other major city in the world.

Historically, Potosi is probably the most important city in Bolivia. At the beginning of colonialism, it was the 2nd richest city IN THE WORLD. Now it's one of the poorest. The Spanish mined it for all of its silver which they sent back to Spain. We were tempted to check out one of the silver mines there but from all of the reviews I read and heard, while it is fascinating, it's mostly dismal and depressing to see the conditions that the miners still work in. This is one of the only industries left in this city and men are basically forced into very dangerous working conditions in order to support their families. Many die at a young age in their 40's or 50's after years of inhaling the mine dust, if they survive the variety of tragic accidents that happen there.

We had considered staying overnight in Potosi but we were so depressed after our day trip that we just immediately caught an overnight bus to La Paz. We did get a chance to check out the old mint in Potosi, where much of the world's coins were minted during colonialism. Now, ironically, Bolivia's coins are minted somewhere in Germany and sent over to the former silver capital of the world.