Potosi

Potosi has a few claims to fame, though you've still probably never heard of it. It is supposed to be the highest city in the world, sitting at around 4100m (or 4060, or 4070, depending on who you believe). That's almost 13,500 ft or more than 2.5 miles above sea level. It houses the "mas alta cerveceria" or highest brewery in the world, which makes Potosina beer as you might have guessed. The beer isn't bad, though it seems that the altitude makes a hoppy beer impossible to obtain.

In addition to being way up there, Potosi was the center of American silver mining and minting for about 200 years, and here I'm including North and South America. The silver cache in Cerro Rico (Sumaj Orcka in Quechua) was the biggest in the world and generated 50% of the silver shipped to Spain. Apparently in the 17th century Potosi had a larger population than some grungy little European towns, like London, and an insatiable appetite for donkeys--they only lasted a few months working at altitude. The mines still operate, though the city is pretty much a small town at this point. Silver is mostly gone by now and mineral prices aren't what they used to be. We didn't do the mine tour, but we did visit the Casa Real de Moneda, or Royal Mint, which boasts original construction (you can see the marks on the 16th century wood floor where people hammered coins), original mills and presses (last of their kind in the world), creosote stained ceilings that still smell of fire after 150 years of rest, and an impressive collection of coins, minerals, and various silver objects. It was a very cool tour and our guide had a pleasantly snarky sense of humor.

Potosi the town has lots of churches, ranging in construction from "nice" to "holy shit". You can tell this place was made of money in its day, and the carvings on the church facades are incredible. Otherwise there's not much to recommend the place. It's high, cold, and in this time of year rainy. We stayed for 2 days to reacclimatize after being lower down in Sucre for so long. Uyuni is next, and, while the salt flat sits around 3600 m, tours usually include excursions to 4000, 4200, or even 5000 m (if you want to climb a volcano). Go go red blood cells!