Potosi and the silver mine

Potosi is the highest city in the world (about 4000m) and it's one of the most important city of Bolivia. The main activity is the mineral extraction (in particular silver) from the mountain next to the city. During my staying in Potosi I visited one of this mine. At the beginning of the tour our guide, an ex miner, took us to the miners' market. He explained us a little bit about their lives. We bought some presents for the miners, like some juice bottles and coca leaves. Then we visited the little industry that processes the minerals extracted from the mountain. But the most interesting part of the tour was for sure the visit of the mine itself. We walked inside the mine for couple of hours, we saw miners working with very primitive tools, we saw minerals of different colours on the surface of the rocks. We also had the opportunity to talk with some of the miners. They talk only quecha, so our guide had to translate for us. Most of the miners doesn't live more than 40 years, in general they die for lung diseases. They don't use any mask during the day work and the air they breath inside the mine is saturated with different gases and dust. We also met a 14 years old boy, that started working in the mine one month ago, we looked him in the eyes knowing that his life was already marked. Very sad. 

This tour was very interesting, you feel to be back in time of 100 years. Most of the miners that works there, has no other choice. You would like to do something, but there is nothing you can do.