Potosi was in the aftermath of a big strike and its beautiful buildings covered in grafitti
street art in Potosi
before our visit to cerro rico, a big mine, we buy 'presents' for the miners, coca leaves, bica to add to the coca and cigarettes
juanito, our mine tour guide, explaining the fine art of coca chewing
anna is not so sure about this present, 96 % alcohol, for the miners. Price about 1.50 USD per liter.....
dynamite
Ali with Cerro Rico towering over Potosi
Cerro Rico, originally a silver mine exploited by the spanish, now a molehill of shafts, mined for zinc and bits of silver
Ali drinking a small lid full of 96 % alcohol, a tradition before entering the mine
Our tour group and a big drunk miner at an entrance of cerro rico. You can see the wad of coca in his cheek. He didn't enter the mine that day but instead kept drinking.
There are no facilities at the mine entrance, so a quick pitstop in the rubbish for Anna, just before we enter the mine.
Two miners entering the mine with an empty cart.
And a full cart coming back out. Very hard physical work in aweful conditions.
Entrance to Cerro Rico. It's dark, humid and it smells like a mix of sweat, coca and pulverised rock.
Tracks for the small carts that the miners use to bring out ore
El Tio (the uncle), was originally installed by the Spanish as a 'god' (the bull was the representation of the spanish rulers) to install fear in the Bolivian miners and make them work harder. He is now adored and adorned with coca leaves, alcohol and cigarettes.
Asbestos lining the walls of the mine
This miner just found a small tract of silver and zinc. He has worked in cerro rico for over 30 years.
Ali clambering up a shaft.
'without miners no Potosi' , a hanging close to the entrance
Street view in Sucre
Municipality of Sucre. Sucre is the white city of Bolivia.
One of the best juice stalls of our trip...in the market in Sucre
Vegetable market in Sucre
Different variaties of potatoes
Dogs at the Sucre market
Tarabuco man
A Tarabuco woman explaining Anna about a woven axsu at the sunday market in Tarabuco
Indigenous man ripping out the heart of a Spanish soldier. Based on a story about a battle between the Spanish and Indigenous people close to Tarabuco.
Tarabuco man in traditional dress playing songs of war on his flute
Traditional hat and woven pieces in Tarabuco and Candelaria style at the market in Tarabuco
Tarabuco woman explaining a bit about her life and work in the textile museum in Sucre
One of the most chaotic Jalca pieces we saw, in the textile museum in Sucre
Detail of an old style and very fine Tarabuco weaving.
We did a 2 day hike to Maragua and Potolo, two indigenous villages famous for their weavers. Maragua is situated in a so called crater. It's not really a crater, but amazingly eroded rocks forming a big basin with rounded edges.
Big standing stones
fuchsia on the trail
Rock paintings of Incamachay, between 2000 and 1000 years old
Maragua crater
crater of Maragua
dinosaur tracks
dinosaur print
Nature provides!
Ali playing soccer with local kids in Maragua
Maragua weafster, weaving Jalca style
Ali, Anna and Ester from the Netherlands
Potolo weafster.
Rustic set up of a Jalca axsu. Jalca axsus are usually colored red and black, and are filled up with figures that resemble animals and mystic creatures. The more chaotic and the more the figures are kind of connected with one another, the higher the piece (or expertise of the weaver) is valued
Before visiting Laverne in Santa Cruz she asked me to buy some spindles and other things at a farmers market in Sucre. They are sold by curanderas, a kind of witchcraft shop.
Anna at the curandera stall in Sucre. You can just see the owner of the stall lying next to me, a bit camera shy, but she was happy for me to sit there and had the giggles. Above me are dead llama/alpaca fetuses. They are burried inside new houses to bring good luck.
Laverne showing me how to spin alpaca wool on a spindle
Laverne and Jorge
Simon the toucan, at a hostal in Santa Cruz
Anna finishing the ends on a small double woven band. Laverne did the first half and I finished the second half, and am here trying out my newly learned technique for braiding with four strands.
