reporter: dario kriznan often starts work when it's still dark out.alt harvesters rely on the sun, but after ten in the morning it's too hot to work. and harvesting salt by hand is back-breaking work. here in piran, they've been using the same techniques to do it for 700 years. after just a few hours, the sun has risen over the top of the hill. suddenly it's scorching, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees celsius in the shade. but there's no shade here. >> my grandfather worked the salt pans. when i was a boy, he always told me it was good, hard work. i internalized that, and that's why i work here. reporter: dario used to work in an office but he can't imagine doing that anymore. this is his life's work. he presses on, filling one trolley after the next with salt. each weighs nearly a ton. the short incline at the end is especially brutal. >> when it gets to be too much, we usually help each other. we can all manage the first two or three trolleys on our own. but when it's more, you just don't have the strength to get up the hill. reporter: but t