Feb. 28th, Potosi:

Thursday, Feb. 28^th, Potosi:  We got up early and mom and I headed for Potosi, a Unesco, World Heritage Site.  The elevation is 13,343 feet above sea level.  The Dibbs decided to stay in Sucre.  We took a cab to an area of the city where you can get a shared taxi to Potosi, that only takes 2 and ½ hours, where as a bus would take 3 and ½ hours.  But we had to wait for almost half an hour for the fourth person.  One never showed so the driver finally left with only 3 passengers.  He drove like a race car driver cutting all the corners and speeding up really fast then slowing down for corners, but taking them as fast as he could.  Mom was in the back seat and right next to the radio speaker.  Needless to say, with music blaring in her ear and being thrown back and forth, she was a little car sick by the time we made it to Potosi.  Potosi is an ugly town as you approach.  This is a mining city.  Silver was discovered here in 1556 and more than 8200 metric tons of silver was sent to the Spanish Monarchy during the next almost 300 years.  The legend says that enough silver was sent to Spain to build a silver bridge from Potosi to Madrid and still have silver to carry across it.  During the city’s heyday, more than 200,000 people lived in Potosi and it was one of the largest cities in South America.  The mines were notorious for the terrible working conditions.  The Spanish required all indigenous slaves to work 12 hour shifts and stay underground for four months at a time.  So many of them died from accidents and silicosis pneumonia that the Spanish imported millions of African slaves for the labor force.  They died even faster because of the cold.   The fist mint in Bolivia was built here in 1672 and for many years was run by mule power. 26 churches were built in Potosi in the colonial period all of which survive today.  Many of the powerful Spanish families had homes in Potosi and some of them still have their coat of arms above the entrance to their houses.  We arrived about noon and found our hostel, a step down from the one in Sucre. 

Hello from our balcony of our hostel.

Our room in Potosi.

Our room in Potosi.

Looking up the street from our balcony in Potosi.

Looking down the street from our balcony in Potosi.

We had a bowl of soup for lunch at a café on the plaza.  Mom still wasn’t feeling great.  We then walked around looking at some of the old buildings and ended up at the Museum of coins where the mint was located.

Mom on the street in Potosi.  Many of the buildings have rooms that jut out over the sidewalk.

The streets are smaller here than in Sucre.

Mom in front of the Cathedral in Potosi.

School had just gotten out as we were walking around town.

The front of the Cathedral in Potosi.

Street View.

Street view of Potosi.

Big sister helping her little sister across the street.

Front door of the House of Coins.

The Museum at the House of coins had a lot of religious art.

The virgin of the hill.

Some of the machines that the pressed the ingots into thin pieces of silver in order to stamp out the coins. These are on the floor above the mules.

The mules would have to walk in circles to provide the power for the machines on the floor above.

One if the passageways in the museum of Coins.

After the tour we visited the restored Convent of Santa Teresa, a Carmelite Convent. 

The Chapel at the Carmelita Convent.

The Pulpit at the Convent.

The ceiling at the convent.  Each square was different.

A room at the convent restored to show some of the art and gifts to the convent.

One of the Courtyards at the convent.

One of the restored alters pieces at the convent.

We had pizza on our way back to the hostel.  Mom said that all the backpackers at the hostel started singing Karaoke about midnight and she wanted to go and tell them to go to bed.  I was of course already asleep.  But about 2:00am I woke up with a splitting headache.  The altitude always bothers me and for about 2 hours I sat reading because to lie down just made my head pound.  We left at 7:30 in the morning.  Mom really wanted to come here and I gave in. 

Mom says this is how she wants to see South America next time.  These guys had shipped their bikes from Spain and were traveling all over South America.  They were staying at our hostel.