Friday, May 15, 2009

Potosi

Potosi is part of the World Heritage Foundation. It was once the richest city in South America and now only stop on the gringotrail. The city is surrounded by mountains that are much higher than the city itself (4000m). The Koala hostel is the place to be and the Kolbert wine the beverage of choice. A four dish menu for lunch costs 1.5$. People are friendly and the local football clubs the best in the country. The nearby silvermine that nowadays only provides zinc was once gound zero of manslaughering in a huge scale. Compared with this mine the Holocaust looks like a picnic and the current Iraq war like a dust in the Sahara. On this mountain 9 million people had worked their way into their death. Whole Incan populations where wiped from the historybooks. We had the chance to go into the mine where men eat cocaleafs, drink 96% alcohol while using dynamite. People usually die after 10 years in the mine. Turists can buy detonators, dynamite and much more for 1.5$ at every kiosk. In the evenings we (about 10 persons) got drunk pretty bad and recovered during most of the day.

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