Meet El Tio, the chain-smoking Bolivian god of the underworld.
When I travelled across Bolivia, one of my most exciting – and terrifying – experiences was visiting the silver mines of Cerro Rico in Potosí.
Locals call Cerro Rico ‘the mountain that eats men’, as countless miners have died over the centuries when searching for deposits of silver.
Today, the mountain’s silver reserves are largely exhausted – but it doesn’t stop locals from trying to strike it lucky.
I spent a hot, sticky and claustrophobic morning in the mines, and was shocked by the terrible conditions endured by the miners.
But the trip was worth it to see El Tio – a statue of the god of the underworld, to which miners offer gifts, cigarettes and prayers each morning in the hope that their supernatural ‘uncle’ will keep them safe.