Both Potosi and Sucre are World Heritage sites - the UNESCO officers must have had a field day around here - but they were right as both towns are equally charming.
Potosi, the highest town of its size at that altitude (+4000m) is the place where the Spaniards found the Inca silver mines of Cerro Rico and extracted enough silver to influence the european economy, whilst incidentally killing off 80% of the locals. The orange mountain that is full of minerals can be seen from most parts of town and is where many Indigenous Peoples still work, in conditions that would not be tolerated in our parts of the world. We know because we actually went down a mine with an ex-miner, Alfredo, who now has silicosis. He took us to the miners part of town, where we bought dinamite, coca leaves and firewater (95% alcohol that the miners actually drink...). Going down the mine was horrendous.
Sucre, called the white city as most buildings are painted that colour, was our base for visiting the longest dinosaur tracks in the world, Tarabuco market, and an excellent textile museum. The market was most impressive because of the amount of different "tribes" that gathered there in their traditional outfits. We were awestruck by the colours and patterns of their ponchos, hats, skirts, wraps, and I had to restrain from going into a shopping frenzy and buying all the different handicrafts that were on offer. We got back in time for Cristian to have a little mishap with a couple of fraudulous locals. Good job his reflexes are faster than lightening otherwise he would have been wallet-less. Senor Yardini actually managed to catch the hand of the pickpocket right after she had slashed through his trouser leg pocket and was going for the wallet. The drama only unfolded later in the evening as, at the time, he just thought she had touched his leg and that he had over-reacted by grabbing her arm...
We are now super-vigilant and ready to pounce at the slightest touch!
Anyhow, that did not stop us enjoying Sucre, although we are now off to Santa Cruz, in the lowlands, to find out what WWF is up to in this wonderful country.
Cerro Rico mines
Our presents to the miners - explosives, coca leaves, alcohol
Cristian, Leslie and moi down the mine
In case you were wondering where the Japanese send their old buses to...
Sucre at sunset from the roof of our hostel
The market in Tarabuco, near Sucre
A lady from the Tarabuca Indigenous Group who sat next to us and asked to be photographed.