The "Casa de Moneda" of Potosi.

The "Casa de Moneda" in Potosi, constructed from 1753 to 1773, is the pace where money was coined. It is a sturdy building. Nowadays it is a museum with a divers collection, from rocks to paintings, from coins to machinery. Very worthwhile to spend part of the day there.

It was impossible for me (and my camera) to take a decent picture of the entrance..... It is this enormous entrance halfway the street.

The Casa de Moneda.

The inner court with the face of Bacchus(???) getting his teeth brushed.

The museum has only guided tours. It is interesting, but my Spanish is non existent so I could not follow the explanations. The light in the museum is also not good for taking pictures (as you will notice). And... no flash.

The inner court.

Sundial.

Very thick strong walls....

A perfectly restored building.

With an interesting collection.

A locomtive....

A gallery with pictures....

Primitive coining utensils....

The museum has three huge rolling mils for silver bars. Originally these machine were driven by 4 donkeys, flattening  silver bars of 25 x 5 x 2 cm into flat sheets of 0,5 mm. The donkeys were not suitable and died already after working for a few months. Then they were replaced by 20 African slaves....

Scales

An intricate lock....

A modern coining machine.

Old map of the Cerro Rico.

The melting and casting of silver / iron.

The geological department.

Letter of Simon Bolivar.

Machines....

... and more machines.

Last but not least....

Saint Eloy - Patron Saint of metalworkers and goldsmiths.

Poetry in San Pedro de Atacama

Rayen Kvyeh, poet from the Mapuche people

San Pedro de Atacama is a small town. People lived in this place far back into pre-Colombian times. Hippies discovered the town in the last century and now the tourists have almost taken over. It is the last stop before going into Bolivia into the Atacama desert and the Salar of Uyuni.

The streets are small with low adobe buildings. Many cafes, pubs, tourist agencies and other commerce for (mainly) tourists. Almost no cars.

And yes... one of the nice Chilean telephone booths.

And dogs that walk on roofs.....

The desert is a good place to watch the stars.

Normally there are no clouds.... But we were out of luck. We had clouds. It also meant the temperature was much lower.

Although the town square is a good place to sit and rest, it was fresh. Even in the daytime we needed coats.

San Pedro has an adobe church with an adobe roof.



From the inside the structure of the roof can be seen.

Walking through the town we spotted a Cultural Center where there would be music and poetry at lunchtime. We found a courtyard where people were having a pick nick. We joined them. 

After some time there was music and singing.
   

..... and then this beautifully dressed Mapuche woman Rayen Kvyeh began to recite poems. I found a translation into English of one of her poems “Death is Dancing (by Rayen Kvyeh)”

More information about the Mapuche: Mapuche International Link and an interview with Rayen Kvyeh in "The Clarin" . 

During this trip through the Andes the altitude became very important to me.  San Pedro is situated at an altitude of 2407 meters. My well being stops around 2000 meters. Higher up means big trouble. Before going on to Bolivia we had a day at San Pedro to adjust for the real high mountains....

San Pedro also houses an interesting Museum. The R. P. Gustavo Le Paige Archaeological Museum. Here you can see many pre-Colombian artifacts of the first inhabitants - Atacameños - of the region of San Pedro. It was dark and freezing cold in the museum, but very worthwhile going there.

Needles made from cactus needles

A wooden vessel