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A content creator went and checked out the closest inhabited place to the sky on Earth and all we can say is we’re glad it wasn’t us.
La Rinconada, in Peru, is believed to be the highest city in the world, home to a host of illegal activities.
And with an altitude of 5,100 meters, the locals are living with only 50 percent of the usual oxygen levels.
It’s thought that their bodies have evolved to produce two times more blood cells than ours.
Well, if that hasn’t sold it to you, then here’s Zazza the Italian who has explored one of the most ‘dangerous neighbours in the world’.
What is La Rinconada like?
Following a three-hour journey from the city of Juliaca, he told viewers that the destination was ‘dangerous’ and ‘off-limits’ to tourists.
“It’s practically an entire, immense slum,” he said.
“I’m feeling dizzy. We’re over 5,000 meters, and they say that [above] 5,000 meters is no longer suitable for human life.
“But over 50,000 people live here. It’s incredible.”
A community of criminals
The run-down gold mining town is full of criminals who are ‘dressed as miners’.
“They rob pedestrians, steal belongings that workers earn in the mines, then leave and hide,” a policeman in the video explained.
“They can commit any criminal act, and it’s not easy to identify them.”
The mining life
“People who stay on the margins of the mines, searching, scavenging through rocks for small, small gold sediments,” Zazza added.
“It’s truly grueling work, especially in these weather conditions. They call it no man’s land.
“So of course, these narrow streets, along with the clothing, make the work of the officers very difficult.
“And I’ve seen many people who… abuse alcohol, I think because there isn’t much entertainment, and life is very hard… these are the only moments to forget a bit about how tough it is to work here, I guess, right?”
The policeman explained that the people of La Rinconada who rob from the miners will do so to spend their money on alcohol and drugs.
It bizarrely ties in with the local tradition of finding gold easier ‘when you’re drunk’.
“Yes, apart from that, it’s a custom here. If they drink, they drink a lot. The more they drink, the more mines they find,” he added.
“A bit strange, but that’s how it is. At the entrance of… the mines, there’s what they call the uncle, the grandfather… where there’s a little god.
“Exactly, there are small statues at the entrance of the mine, and miners every day offer them things, whether it’s cigarettes, a bottle of alcohol… so that it guides them, right? In the search for gold.
“The legend says that if they find gold, they have to spend that money on vice.”
Not for me, thanks.
