This city has no architectural beauty or attractions. It is difficult to breathe here, because its inhabitants live at an altitude of 5,100 meters above sea level. However, this place attracts thousands of daredevils who come here every year, seduced by countless golden treasures.
La Rinconada is located in the Peruvian Andes, near the border with Bolivia. It can only be reached on foot by a narrow mountain road. The dangers do not end there – if tourists go to the city alone, they can get lost in the mountains forever. And the search opportunities in Peru are not very great.
The climate in La Rinconada is harsh, more reminiscent of the coast of Greenland, despite the fact that it is located only 14 degrees from the equator. During the day the temperature does not exceed 10 degrees Celsius, and at night it drops below zero. Here are rainy summers and dry winters, snowfall regularly throughout the year, and due to the thin air, people get tired quickly and often suffer from hypoxia. Anyone who has recently arrived in the city has difficulty breathing.
Residents of the city work in gold mines, owned mainly by Corporacion Ananea. Twenty-five days a year they work literally for food, and five days they have the right to keep their gold. As a rule, they can take as much valuable ore as they can take on their shoulders. Then everything depends on success.
Women are not allowed to work in the mines themselves, but they sift the remnants of ore in search of gold grains.
In general, the life of local gold diggers has changed minimally since the beginning of the 20th century: the city has no sewerage or water supply, and electricity was provided only in 2009.
A separate problem for La Rinconada is its very poor environmental situation. Miners purify gold ore with mercury, inhaling toxic fumes, and filter the resulting mass through a cloth. In addition, explosives used to extract the precious metal poison the air.
However, despite all the hardships of life in the city, gold miners come here not only from Peru but from all over South America.
The golden ghost still attracts people who are ready to endure unbearable living conditions for five days a year, when fortune will smile on them … In the hope that later they will leave La Rinconada rich.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “The doctor told the basic myths about strengthening the immune system.”
Source: Rambler