Dynamite and the mines!
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2007
1
63
70
Trip End
Ongoing
Potosi, Bolivia
Monday, October 8, 2007
First stop of the day was to the market to buy gifts for the miners, these included Coca leaves (to keep them going through the long shifts), fizzy drinks and dynamite....The dynamite sold at these market stalls cost 17 Bolivianas (1 pound) and is freely available for anyone to purchase - including kids!! Our guide then proceeded to tell us how a young lad of 16 brought some dynamite and blew himself up as a result of splitting up with his girlfriend - nice!!
The next stop was the actual mines and after talk of raw asbestos, arsenic and lead that was going to be laying around I canīt say we were overly excited about the prospect of venturing down there! Once underground I can safely say it was one of the most scariest things iīve done and something that although iīm super glad I did i wouldnīt be doing again in a hurry! After 2 hours of crawling through dusty,dark cramped tunnels up to 60m down with dynamite being blown up above our heads, we were more than happy to see the light of day again. It was more than enough time to be exposed to those kind of conditions and really made you feel for the poor buggers who work 8-24 hours a day 6 days a week, some as young as 10! The life expectancy for a 10 year old working in the mines is 28, not too impressive by any stretch of the imagination!
Until 2 years a go the average wage for a miner was 600BS (40 pound a week) and when up to 35 workers die a year you have to ask yourself if itīs worth it!?....Thankfully due to the increase in the price of tin it has rose dramatically to 2000-3000BS a month which is slightly more respectable but not quite enough to get me working for them! Once all the hard work had finished it was time to play with the Dynamite....the guides stuck a fuse in to the package leaving 3 minutes before it exploded, the dynamite was then passed around like a hot potato while pics were taken before returning it to the guide who then ran ahead, dropped it down in a field and swiftly moved on out of site. The bang that followed was deafening and spectacular, shaking the ground below us and considering we were around 80m away gives you an impression of the power of these things.
So back to the town for just enough time for a quick shower and a bite to eat before a dash to the bus stop to get yet another night bus to Uyuni.
