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Published: February 9th 2007
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La Paz
The Butcher So we finally made it to La Paz. I don´t Boleevya I hear you say (I couldn´t resist at least one of my corny South American puns). You´d be hard presssed to call this a pretty city but the location and overview is as spectacular as I have seen. Wandering the streets and even climbing the stairs in our hostel is a chore. At 3800 metres give or take a metre there´s apparently a few basic rules. Walk slow, drink lots of water and no grog (ouch) until acclimatised. Even following this code of conduct we tire easily and have developed headaches. I now have first hand knowledge of why Bolivia never loses a soccer match at home (and never win away).
The contrast between Bolivia and Argentina / Chile is stark. We´ve jumped to the other side of the south american fence. Spanish is only the second language to the majority of the indiginous population. The women still proudly wear their traditional garb - bowler hats (like a Clockwork Orange on steroids) and multy layered skirts. Apparently the more skirts they wear and the more elaborate those skirts the more affluent the person. Thus the more portly looking woman the
La Paz
Central Market more desirable they are. ¨
'does my bum look big in this skirt'
yes
thank you.
But, whatever you do don't get caught taking their photo. They can get upset to the point of having various forms of vegetable matter hurled in your direction, tomatoes a favourite.
There doesn't appear to be a lot of joy amongst the people and smiles are few. An Argentine guy we met who is now living here reckons they're a bitter race. I guess 500 years of being slammed physically and economically by Europeans could do that to you.
Gary
Finally arriving in La Paz takes some of the previous days drama away. It is an amazing vista. The flight in was spectacular, pity we had no camera handy. The highlight of La Paz thus far for me has been the Witchcraft Market full of every imaginable item, including dried llama foetus an obvious favourite. I hear it's offered to the god of fertility. We are back in La Paz in a few days, so let me know who's interested. Maybe I could get a discount for bulk buying.
Food in Bolivia so far has been great, with quite a variety and so
La Paz
The city cheap. (a set course lunch is AUD1 for 3 courses)
Penny
More images at:
www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com
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Lisa
non-member comment
Yuk
I shudder to think what they actually do with the dried llama foetus........did you find out? Do I want to know?