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4th May - Hey Ho Hey Ho, It's Down the Mine we Go

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The 4th May was a Saturday. We had wanted to do a tour of one of the mines in the afternoon as then we could look in to some of the churches in the morning (they are all shut Saturday afternoon), but we were told that there was a football match on in the afternoon and no one would be working down there. Mining is so central to Potosi that mine tours are on the tourist agenda. I felt first of all that it was exploitative as the conditions in Cerro Rico are renowned but I felt more comfortable with it as time went on. Cerro Rico has been tunnelled for silver since the 16th century and the way things are done has not altered much since then. It is such a dangerous operation that every mine (and there are 5,000 entrances on the mountain, not all in use) has its resident Tio, or statue of the devil who has to be appeased for the miner to be kept safe. Above ground, the miners are Roman Catholic, below ground darker forces come in to play. Most miners can only expect to work for 20 yea