一個滿山銀礦的地方是個福地吧？還要是史上銀礦藏量最高的地方，生於這裡就算不錦衣玉食也至少生活無憂吧？

What if you are from a place where there’s a silver mine that produce incredible wealth? Will you think it’s a bless?

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但自從西班牙殖民者來到玻利維亞，發現了 Potosi 這個滿山銀礦的 Cerro Rico（富貴山）時，這個福地卻只為這裡的原住民帶來無窮無盡的剝削和勞役，成為了玻利維亞人眼中的「食人山」。

三百年來，因採礦而亡的原住民及大量輸入的非洲黑奴據估計由二百萬至八百萬不等！直到今天，雖然殖民世紀已過了二百年，但人們並沒有因這個富貴山過上什麼好日子。礦工們的工作環境仍然非常惡劣，除了安全保護設施不足，又因長期吸入礦洞中的有毒氣體，導致很多礦工活不到四十歲便死於肺病。還有低廉的薪酬和童工問題，在礦洞內工作6小時，一般只能賺取到大約7至21美元的微薄工資，有時還會遇上拖糧欠薪等問題；而現在還有大約800名兒童礦工在這裡工作，部分礦工由11、12歲開始便要過其黑暗的礦場歲月。

原本是想參加這裡有名的礦洞團，無知的我以為這裡的礦場早已關閉，所謂的礦工只是做個樣子給遊客拍照。到後才得知礦工們是貨真價實在辛勞工作，這裡的礦場並不是遊樂場。礦工們除了要冒生命危險、犧牲健康、刻苦工作外，還要三不五時應酬我們這班來自富庶地區的遊客，給我們拍照出賣色相。雖說旅行社會把部分旅遊收益回饋礦工們，但最終會回饋多少甚或有沒有回饋亦難以核實。思前想後，我最終都放棄了這個礦場遊。雖然我不知道旅行的意義是什麼，但我不想消費礦工們的不辛，把自己的旅行建築在他人的苦難身上。

Potosi, southwest of Bolivia, was a city of silver that produced incredible wealth for over 3 centuries but not for the indigenous Bolivians but for the colonial Spaniards. It only brought indescribable hardship for the poor indigenous people and the enslaved Africans who mined in Cerro Rico (rich mountain).

A rich mountain to Spaniards is also the mountain that eats men to Bolivians. Estimated between 2 to 8 millions people perished in Cerro Rico that earns its name “the mountain that eats men”. Even nowadays, the miners still work in medieval condition with long working hours but very low pay (they make around USD7-21 for a 6 hours shift) or even no pay. Also, due to the toxic and dusty working environment, many of them never live over their 40s. In most cases, the job will just be passed down to their young sons and around 800 child labors, who started to work as young as 11, still work in the mine today.

I came to Potosi for the famous mine tour. I was ignorant and thought it’s a closed down mine and visiting there would be like visiting an amusement park. However the more I know about the mine, the less I want to do it. It will be very interesting to know the mine and the miners personally. However I couldn’t help but wonder how the miners feel when they see rich tourists paying to visit the mine while most of them simply wish they never need to come back. I really don’t have an answer and I also don’t want to feel like enjoying something that based on the hardship of others. And so, I didn’t do the mine tour at the end.