The Mines of Potosi - Part 1

It is hard to overstate the impact one lonely peak high up on the Bolivian altiplano had on world history - the silver which was dug from within it changed the world. It is however, largely forgotten today.

In this first part of a short series on the subject, I describe Potosi today using my observations from when I visited. It is a strange place, haunted by it's history and marked by poverty. Crumbling Spanish buildings hint at its former wealth, and the miners still enter the hill and work in dangerous conditions which feel like they haven't changed much since the colonial era.