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Got a free algae application though and you can't beat that!I guess we've been neglecting our blog responsibilities, so now we have two cities to write about: Potosi, Bolivia and Salta, Argentina. First, Potosi: It was one of our favourite cities in Bolivia. Also, it is the highest city in the world at 4090 m ASL, so in your face all you sea level-dwellers.

Minor Miners, Saltese

GringoAndGringa
2006-02-18 14:50:36

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Got a free algae application though and you can't beat that!I guess we've been neglecting our blog responsibilities, so now we have two cities to write about: Potosi, Bolivia and Salta, Argentina. First, Potosi: It was one of our favourite cities in Bolivia. Also, it is the highest city in the world at 4090 m ASL, so in your face all you sea level-dwellers.

We enjoyed Potosi for two reasons:
1) Its physical beauty. It has some of the finest colonial buildings that we have seen. For instance, our hostel -- Hostal Carlos V -- was in a great colonial building. (Never mind that the hardwood floors were covered by newspaper, and one time when I was having a shower, green algae began seeping out of the shower head. But then again, maybe the algae is related to the building's "history"...)

2) The historical context. Potosi was founded as a Spanish mining town, and once supplied much of the silver for Spanish and South American coins. Indigenous and black slaves once worked the silver mines -- sometimes working for six months or more without surfacing. The history gives Potosi a hardcore quality.

When we were there, we did a few interesting things. We went to the museum, which is packed with interesting relics
Horseback riding outside Salta. very fun. The horses were energetic, and i managed not to fall off during the galloping. Still sore though, don't know how those gauchos do it.from the colonial days. It is nearly as good as the Royal BC Museum! There was a coin that was recovered from a shipwreck off of Florida. There was a huge, two story machine (powered by mules) that was used to flatten the silver. It's so good because the building the museum is housed in was once silver refinery, so they have lots of old junk left over from that.

I took a tour the mines, which are still active. That was probably one of the highlights of the trip so far. The mountain ("Rich Mountain") has been mined ...