It's worth a Potosí!
Trip Start
Dec 30, 2004
1
16
18
Trip End
Jan 23, 2005
Where I stayed
Hostal Carlos V
What I did
San Francisco of Potosi Convent and Temple - Convento y Templo "San Francisco" de Potosí
Read my review - 4/5 stars
Read my review - 4/5 stars
Potosí, Potosí, Bolivia
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
What happened: I caught a taxi and told the driver to take me to the "main square" (without having any idea of its name or anything). Some minutes after another man caught the same taxi. I didn’t know the taxies were like buses there as well, they appear to be normal taxies… And of course came to my mind things like I’d be kidnapped, robbed or something… Luckily the driver explained me about the way they work and asked me why I would want to go to the main square that early. I recognized that I had no idea of what to do, and the driver adviced to stay on the bus station until the sun was up. So he drove me back there.
There was a internet shop opposite to the bus station. It opened at 7. It was dark yet, but I went there to look for some info about Potosí.
At 8 I took another taxi and went to the main square (this time knowing its name was “10 de Noviembre”). Everything was closed yet, but I could walk and see how people start their days there.
And I walked around, with my backpack, until ten. It’s easy to get lost there, because of the irregular shape of the streets.
The city was beautiful. I’d never been to such a beautiful city before: colonial architecture, plenty of huge churches (many of which now had different social or governmental functions).
After a long walk, at 10 I went to the tourist office. They gave me a map and a list of things to do. Apart from that, the girl in the office told me that she didn’t understand how could I had been walking for two hours with my backpack, as the altitude was very high (is the highest city in the world, and one of the highest habited places in the world). I was masking coca all the time; perhaps that helped…
Also I was given a list of hotels and guesthouses, so I checked that out. I found a cheap but very nice familiar hotel ran by a very nice woman and her daughter. The only problem was the limitation of the hot water. The hot water worked until noon, so I thought about having a quick shower, but the woman in the hotel told me that an excursion to the silver mines was about to depart, so if I was interested had to go there quickly.
I decided to visit the mines, so I went quickly. Before anything we were taken to the miner’s market, where we were supposed to buy some presents for the miners (pure alcohol to drink, coca leaves, cigarettes or soft drinks. And finally we were taken to the mines.
It was interesting. We walked in the dark narrow tunnels where the miners walk every day. We noticed that the work conditions are very poor and that’s why the miners have short lives. When they have time, they drink pure alcohol, mask coca leaves and smoke cigarettes…
In the tunnels we saw a miner and we gave him the presents. He didn’t seem to be enjoying our visit, took the presents and went away without saying a word.
At one point we had to climb a stairway and we heard an explosion and stones started to fall from the upper side of the stairway. The guide shouted “¡EXPLOSIÓN!” and he ran away, leaving us inside the cave. Of course, we all entered in panic! Happily nothing happened, and he came back and took us out, but the irresponsibility of that guide made us feel indignant.
We returned to the hotel and they asked me to buy another tour, but I hadn’t enough money, so I just wanted to have a better view of the city on my own.
Potosí is a beautiful colonial city, one of the oldest of the continent and keeps having its colonial style (sadly there are exceptions that don’t see good… but they are few). Walking on it you feel as if you were in another world. There is as well (like in most of Latin America) a high difference between the rich and the poor people… Mercedes-Benz’s and people living in the streets.
Some native people live in their cultures, some of them speak in Aymara, Quechua or other languages.
People in general is very lovely and helpful (if they don’t think you’re Chilean… they don’t like them).
In the afternoon I visited San Francisco Convent, where can be seen furniture and decoration from the colonial époque, have an amazing view from the terrace and visit the catacombs. Sadly it was not allowed to take pictures, not even in the terrace (if you do so, you may have to pay an extra fee).
I went to the 10 de noviembre square and visited the Cathedral and seen the other surrounding buildings. I entered another public building where I could go up to the rooftops and have a beautiful view of the city. Then I came back to the hostel and had a pique macho (chicken in a very spicy sauce, a typical Bolivian dish) in a restaurant near there and went to sleep.
The following day I had a coffee and toasted bread for breakfast in the hotel. I hadn’t had a coffee for long, since I was in Cafayate.
I went to the museum of the Casa de la Moneda (where the first coins of South America where minted), but I couldn’t enter because it was closed. At least I could take some pictures in the entrance, where there’s the famous mask (icon from Potosí). I had something to eat and visited an old market, where people can buy vegetables, meat, clothes, anything. As I was runing out of money, I decided to start the way back, so I went to the bus station and bought a ticket to Villazón for that night (so I didn’t have to pay for a place to sleep).
(PS: "To be worth a Potosí" is a Spanish common saying, which means "to be worth a lot")
