It was already dark as my bus from Tupiza entered Potosi's bus terminal, a busy place where ticket sellers' loud sales announcements reverberated around the circular hall like monks' chants.  The scene outside the bus terminal was even less impressive with busy traffic and vernacular buildings.  First impressions of Potosi were not great.

Once the taxi entered the historic part of the city, however, the mood - both mine and the city's - changed.  I remember how seeing the columns of Plaza 6 de Agosto being illuminated by lights made me feel happy.  Going for a walk in the night, I found areas that were peacefully calm but also areas that were lively with people going out for drinks (or bubble tea) or had a musical parade going through it.  

During the day, I discovered a hardworking city with Andean Baroque architecture and overhanging covered balconies.  Potosi's engaging colonial buildings and preserved history makes it more worthy as a two or more days destination rather than a day trip stop.

With respect to the mine tour of Cerro Rico, I did go on it.  In the tour was just me and a Belgian tourist.  The other tourist - a man probably in his late 20s - had a lot of difficulty breathing and keeping up and decided to quit the tour about a 1/3 way into it, which meant that I was left alone in the dark mine while the guide accompanied the other tourist out (I decided to continue the tour because, well, you know, you always want to do better than a Belgian). When the guide returned, we entered tunnels that were very small and required me to crawl at times, sometimes down slope.  There was also an unstable looking ladder at one point that gave me pause.

I found myself breathing hard during the tour, and I first wasn't sure if it was panic-induced or the lack of oxygen.  I now do think it was more likely the lack of oxygen.  

Setting aside the potential physical discomfort of it, should you go on the tour, politically or ethically speaking?  I think that depends on how you approach it.  If you want to go on the mine tour for an adrenaline rush or an adventure, then I think you should reconsider.  This is a working mine, and people have died in the mines or due to illnesses arising from mining. Respect should be given.

On the other hand, I do think you can go on this tour to learn without feeling morally dirty. It is helpful, for example, that there isn't much opportunity to gawk at the workers.  Near the mine entrance, we did encounter a couple of miners (and we dropped off gifts for them in their carts), but we mostly toured tunnels that were not being actively mined. This reduced the chance of us getting in the way of people working or for the tourists to either intentionally or unintentionally treat the workers as if they were creatures in a zoo or people to be pitied.

What is important, I think, is for people who visit the mines to then think about why these workers work in such dangerous conditions.  For hundreds of years miners and forced labourers toiled and died to make the few obscenely rich.  Now that the mountains have given up most of its wealth, the scraps have been left for the desperate to make some income for themselves.  There are many mines today in South America - many operated by mining companies from my home country, Canada - that continue to exploit the environment, the communities, and the workers.  Cerro Rico is not just a history lesson, but a view into what is happening currently.