I decided to take a (quite long) daytrip from La Paz to Oruro. I left before 7:00 am in the morning because I knew it would take 4 hours to get to Oruro. Because of the construction on the road between the two cities it took more than 5 hours – a very long and dull bus ride (everything was flat on the way so not much to look at) indeed.
The city of Oruro is a mining city founded in the early 1600’s and known mainly for its copper, silver, and tin industries. While it was originally known for its silver primarily, the town eventually became the most important source of tin in the world.
When I arrived in Oruro it was already time for siesta, so there wasn’t much open or going on. I chose to sit for a while in a pizza place called Bravo’s Pizza, which had WIFI and a delicious and unique pizza with chicken and cherries on it.
At around 3:00 PM I left Bravo’s Pizza and went to the house of Simon Patino, a former silver and tin mine owner. Colin and I tried to go to one of his palaces when in Cochabamba, but since it was closed I decided to try this one instead. Patino owned one of the nearby tin mines called La Salvadora that made him a billionaire in the colonial period. Patino spent a lot of time in Europe and his house reflected that love for European goods. Patino eventually migrated to Britain and his departure led to Bolivian labor uprisings and the mines being nationalized in the 1950’s. Before this Patino used his money to fill his house with loads of luxury goods. I joined a small group and we took a tour around his house.
Strangely enough Patino actually didn’t live in the house, despite all the items in the house. We went first through the numerous living rooms of the house, including one which was specifically a music room which was decorated with loads of instruments and my favorite piece of the house called an “orqueston” or a giant musical one-machine band. There was also a dining room containing an amour of sorts made of marble, cedar, and mother of pearl. Our group walked through the play rooms containing games and camping equipment, a kitchen with a somewhat modern (for the time) refrigerator. The final rooms we explored were the bedrooms which had loads of fantastic hats owned by Patino and his wife. We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside the house, so I had to find some online – so thanks to tiwy.com for the photos!
After touring Patino’s house I next headed back past the main plaza to the the sanctuary of the virgin and the former tin mine within the sanctuary. Here I entered the church doors and immediately (and unknowingly) got scammed by a guy waiting to bring foreign tourists into the mine and then take their ticket money without giving them a ticket – charging them 3 times the normal amount – so he could pocket it himself. I only realized what happened later on when I went into the ticket area and saw the posted prices. Scam artists.
Anyways, so I went through the church and climbed down the stairs into the tin mine and got to see some of the equipment the miners used to use. They even had a devil in the mine to leave gifts with – just like the mine in Potosi. It was really cool to see where the tin and silver came from just after having seen all the gadgets and lavish lifestyle its sale had purchased for men like Patino. When I finished looking through the mine and the adjoining church I went back into the entrance looking for someone to open the nearby museum that included in the ticket price.
Leaving the mine I returned to explore the church – which had some awesome paintings in it! Dramatic mode on my camera loved it all.
I was given a song and dance from the woman at the counter about the museum being closed (I checked the date and time, it should have been open – they closed it early because they were lazy.) until the guy who sold me the ticket came in. I had noticed the ticket prices for locals and foreigners listed in huge print on the back wall and proceeded to draw attention to the scam. Not wanting me to make a scene, the scammer guy agreed to let me into the museum and went to get the keys (which he had just told me minutes before were ‘with another employee who already went home’) to let me in. I got to look around the museum which had some masks and old artifacts, then (not wanting to waste my time arguing about being scammed) I left and caught a taxi to the minibuses. 4 hours later I arrived back in La Paz.
I was so glad to be back in La Paz. Oruro isn’t too big and while interesting, it is really too far away (it took me more than 9 hours of travel time for a one day trip) to venture to unless its on your way (i.e. you are going between Sucre and La Paz) or it is Carnival time.
Francesca
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