Pulacayo, Industrial Heritage Site

I visited Pulacayo as part of my Bolivian trip (Sucre-Potosi-Uyuni-La Paz) to tick off the WHS (and TWHS) in that area. Pulacayo isn't on many itineraries but it's just 20 kilometers from Uyuni. Most tours go to the train graveyard of Uyuni but I think Pulacayo is much better.

The entrance fee is small and I do recommend taking a guide there (just a small fee) or if you're with a driver like me who speaks spanish and is local take him. I was able to get into the Aniceto Arce house as there was a historian doing research / cataloguing all the papers. Bedrooms, livingroom etc etc are all in good order with furniture still. Also it was interesting to see (in my case from 1944) a book with the results of the mine.

There was a lot of reconstruction going on at the site. They are preserving it well and i think it deserves to become a full WHS soon. Yes there are other sites maybe in other countries, but as this is important for Bolivia I think they deserve this nomination.

I recommend everyone to go; plan half a day either from Uyuni or if you drive from Potosi to Uyuni (which was what I did).

For my 2017 trip to South America I ventured a bit off the beaten path, at least in terms of WHS travel. A colleague more or less implored me to include the Salar de Uyuni in my itinerary. At first I was a bit hesitant as Uyuni is not on the list, so doing the detour and spending three full days here, seemed excessive. Eventually, I gave in and made my travel arrangements accordingly. And I have to concur, Salar de Uyuni is a great place to visit and it was the highlight of my trip.

Still, I was left wondering if there was anything that I could take away as a WHS traveler. Thanks to our great map, I noticed that nearby Pulacayo was listed as tentative site. And so I squeezed in a visit while travelling from Uyuni to Potosi.

The site itself is an abandoned mining town around the second largest silver mine of the 19th century. At it's peak more than 6000 inhabitants lived here. The number nowadays is down to less than a thousand. Mining eventually stopped in the 1990s.

With all the former mining buildings and facilities the site has a great feel and is very photogenic, a bit like Fray Bentos in Uruguay. I would have loved to explore more of it, maybe venture Into the mine or have a guide provide some context, but due to time constraints I couldn't. Plan at least two hours. If you are in the area …