Then we drove off back to the main road again. Just as we get to the "carretera asphaltada" I check as usual the tyres for problems. To my shock I discovered that one of the additional stabilisers (the height and weight of the camper made those necessary) at the rear axle was broken. Fortunately, all the elements were still on the camper but one of the two metall connection rings at the ends had snapped off the 30 cm metal bar. We were debating where we could get such a spare part, a special part for the camper! Could we call back in Europe to find out where we could get it? Would they be able to help us in LaPaz? It was a Sunday on top of everything!
After a while I tried to push my German car mentality aside and try to put myself in the shoes of the average Southamerican car mecanic. Spareparts? too difficult to get and too expensive! So how could we get this part back into shape? 200 km back on the road at the junction where we had to go South (away from LaPaz) I would try to find somebody who could help. Maybe the part could even be welded back together again. The little town of maybe 500 inhabitants had not many restaurants. I deposited the family for lunch and went off asking my way through to welding shop right on the street. It was open on Sunday! Now the shop resembled a kitchen full of scrap parts with an arc welding automat in front of the door just in the street. I discussed with the mecanic and he confidently said that he would be able to repair. So for about 2 hours we worked together to separate the rubber parts from the
After a while I tried to push my German car mentality aside and try to put myself in the shoes of the average Southamerican car mecanic. Spareparts? too difficult to get and too expensive! So how could we get this part back into shape? 200 km back on the road at the junction where we had to go South (away from LaPaz) I would try to find somebody who could help. Maybe the part could even be welded back together again. The little town of maybe 500 inhabitants had not many restaurants. I deposited the family for lunch and went off asking my way through to welding shop right on the street. It was open on Sunday! Now the shop resembled a kitchen full of scrap parts with an arc welding automat in front of the door just in the street. I discussed with the mecanic and he confidently said that he would be able to repair. So for about 2 hours we worked together to separate the rubber parts from the
For the next two days we drove on nearly perfect roads towards Potosi. We stopped at a hot spring bath for the night close to Oruro but arrived late afternoon in Potosi. Potosi is an old mining town. Since the Spaniards arrived in Southamerica they mined silver from the big mountain behind the town. It used to be the biggest silver mine in the world with Potosi in the 16th and 17th century bigger than London or Paris. However, it had not developped much since then. We had a 3-hour nightmare to find our way through the narrow and super bumby streets at 4000 m altitude to a hotel we could park the camper. The quick evening outing to avoid having to cook supper was not very successful either and so we all fell into bed quite early.
The following day we took it easy and visited the old mint which is now a museum. We encountered a tour guide (who was mandatory for the visit of the mint) who was completely disenchanted with the tourists. I sat down next to him at his break in the small cafeteria and he complained bitterly about all those unfriendly tourists. The worst were according to him the elderly Germans!! I tried to take his mood with a pinch of salt and managed to make him laugh and we enjoyed thoroughly the second part of our guided tour with him.
We liked Potosi’s oldfashioned style a lot! The following day we had organised a private guided tour (in French) of the mine. It was just us with the guide which was with hindsight the right decision since the visit was a bit challenging.
The following day we took it easy and visited the old mint which is now a museum. We encountered a tour guide (who was mandatory for the visit of the mint) who was completely disenchanted with the tourists. I sat down next to him at his break in the small cafeteria and he complained bitterly about all those unfriendly tourists. The worst were according to him the elderly Germans!! I tried to take his mood with a pinch of salt and managed to make him laugh and we enjoyed thoroughly the second part of our guided tour with him.
We liked Potosi’s oldfashioned style a lot! The following day we had organised a private guided tour (in French) of the mine. It was just us with the guide which was with hindsight the right decision since the visit was a bit challenging.
metal, weld the ring back onto the bar and trying to press the rubber parts back in without damaging them. And it worked!!! I was very proud of myself when I managed to put the part back on the car again and it fitted. This was a direct experience of the inconviniences and the advantages of SouthAmerica. Obviously not exactly easy to suppress my German engineering mindset!
First we went to the miners market and bought some presents in form of Coca leaves, drinks and dynamite for the miners. Then we got dressed in rubber boots and plastic jackets and trousers. We drove up the mountain the bumby
bumby truck dirt road to the entrance of our mine There are about 400 independent cooperatives with each of them there own mine. All toghether around 20 000 miners are currently working in the mountain earning between 35 and 70 Bolivianos a day - 5 - 10 Dollars.
We walked a few hundred meters further in the dark and came to a small museum that is used by the miners to worship the god of the mine and to bring for this purpose some alcohol and cigarettes as sacrifies. While we were sitting there we could here the start of explosions in some other part of the mine. My heart sank even deeper. I had to suppress my urge of asking to leave strait away to get out. Fortunately the children asked!!
So we walked back out and we were very happy to see the sunlight again.
So we walked back out and we were very happy to see the sunlight again.
For those who had expected something like a European organisation for the mine had to scale down their expectations quite a lot. A few shacks surounded a whole in the mountain out of which a pair of broken rails lead to a dump. It looked rather like the mine entrances that one is used to see in comic books. But then we entered. There was not light at all in the tunnel except our torches. We started walking and soon encountered a group of miners that were mending the rails for the wagons. We walked through a muddy corridor with beams holding up the low surface. Sometimes a chute made us bend down to be able to move forward. To be honest I did not feel very comfortable. Having seen how things were held together and could not get rid of the feeling that accidents must be quite common here.
Finally, we came to a place where a small hole went just next to the corridor in the ground. Our guide made me climb down to find a miner who was hammering with a big hammer and an iron rod holes in the tunnel to subsequently postion the dynamite in it. He was working in a space of two by two by two meters. We left him some of our presents and I asked him about working conditions. On the question about accidents he answered "muy peligroso, muchos accidentes" and I did not feel very relieved when I crawled back out of the hole.
Finally, we came to a place where a small hole went just next to the corridor in the ground. Our guide made me climb down to find a miner who was hammering with a big hammer and an iron rod holes in the tunnel to subsequently postion the dynamite in it. He was working in a space of two by two by two meters. We left him some of our presents and I asked him about working conditions. On the question about accidents he answered "muy peligroso, muchos accidentes" and I did not feel very relieved when I crawled back out of the hole.