Monday, January 25, 2010

Chilecito, Leather factory and Cable Cars

I really liked Chilicito and agree with a fellow tourist that the city should do more to promote their town. Chilicito got its name from the Chili miners who came to mine the local resources. In the 1880s a German company decided to mine gold deposits in a mountain at 4,700 metres.

To transport the gold and other minerals in an efficient manner to the town which sits at an elevation of 1,070 metres, they developed a cable car system of 265 towers, the highest of which is 56 metres. You can still see the rusted towers and cars, which Victor of course just had to play with. You can imagine how busy the cable car system must have been when in operation and how noisy.

We also visited the leather factory were Victor worked as an export agent. Touring a leather factory is not for those with a weak stomach but I found it fascinating to know exactly how leather is produced. The smell is not only from the skins but also from the strong chemicals of chrome and sulphoric used to process the leather. Unfortunately, the local environment is heavily contaminated. Maybe this explains why they do not promote tourism.Posted by Picasa
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