We continue our journey to the city of Potosi; the road passes through some typical dry Bolivian scenery, mountains rich in minerals thus of varying colours and scarce in vegetation. There are herds of wild vicunas visible grazing on the little vegetation that grows in these parts. The distance covered is around 250km and due to the poor condition of the road it might take over 5 hours to cover this distance. The altitude of this section of the road is on average 3800m, but about 30 km out of Uyuni there is a mountain pass peaking at 4220m, as we cross the mountain range Cordillera de Chichas.
Potosi has one of the highest elevations in the world for a city of its size. Its main square is at 4000m above sea level. Due to its high altitude the climate is rather harsh especially in the winter months when the night temperature falls far bellow zero.
After lunch and little bit of rest we visit the Potosi museum Casa de Moneda, this is where the silver from the Potosi mines was turned into bars and coins before being shipped to Spain. Besides coin collection, the Casa de Moneda serves as a general museum which houses paintings, minerals, archaeological finds, weapons and many other bits and peaces of Bolivian history. Before dinner we can spend an hour strolling through the old colonial streets of this once one of the largest and richest cities in the world.
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