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Published: August 10th 2007
LaPaz
From the altiplano looking into the valley which houses LaPaz the seat of the national government with Sucre remaining the nominal capital only.La Paz
South America » Bolivia » La Paz By nomad1979
May 31st 2007
La Paz
La Paz is the highest capital city in the world, and is home to
the world's highest golf course. The air is so thin that a well-hit
shot will travel several meters farther than at sea level.
It´s always amazing in poorer countries of the world how you can have a all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet for a little over a dollar but for a little more (less than $8) you can have an all-you-can-eat buffet at the five-star Radisson Hotel which includes trout, steak, paella, desserts like candy-coated pineapple, chocolate cake, mousse etc. It's almost worth flying here just for a few buffets.
There´s generally a good feeling in LaPaz although there are few flat areas to walk around. If you get lost, just walk downhill and you´ll reach the main street. I´m sure that if you dropped a ball it would roll out of the city.
For a thousand years, South American indigenous peoples have chewed the coca leaf.
The Spaniards at first ignored aboriginal claims
that the leaf gave the locals strength and energy, and declared the
Coca Museum
Interesting history and view of coca as a public enemy verses a gift from god. practice of chewing
it the work of the Devil. But after discovering that these claims were true,
Coca Museum
Interesting history and view of coca as a public enemy verses a gift from god.
they legalized and taxed the leaf, taking 10 percent off the value of each crop.
These taxes were for a time the main source of support for the Roman Catholic Church
in the region
An Italian chemist named Angelo Mariani became
intrigued with coca and its economic potential. In 1863, he started marketing a
wine called Vin Mariani, which had been treated with coca leaves and became very popular (see photo)
Then Coca Cola was developed and during the first twenty years of its production contained coca.
Sigmund Freud was one of the first famous users of cocaine.
In 1885 the U.S. manufacturer Parke-Davis sold cocaine in various forms,
including cigarettes, powder, and even a cocaine mixture that could be
injected directly into the user’s veins with the included needle.
The company promised that its cocaine products would “supply the place of
food, make the coward brave, the silent eloquent and ... render the sufferer
insensitive to pain.”
Saturday June 2,
Coca Museum
Postings are in Spanish but translation is available in English,Dutch, etc.
Coca leaves are typically mixed with an alkaline substance (such as lime)
and chewed into a wad that is retained in the mouth between gum and cheek
(much in the same as chewing tobacco is chewed) and sucked of its juices 2007 was a large street festival callled Gran Poder 2007. It was La Paz´s version of Rio´s carnival. From 8am until almost midnight over 50 groups with a total of over 50,000 people
Coca Museum
Postings are in Spanish but translation is available in English,Dutch, etc.
Coca leaves are typically mixed with an alkaline substance (such as lime)
and chewed into a wad that is retained in the m... marched by with their own bands wearing traditional masks.
Two of the rarest masks were worn by revelers who often collapsed
dead after days of dancing, drinking and sex, the "Jach'a Tata" .
This is a a multicolour plaster mask of a big-mouthed, long-nosed deity dating from the early 1900s
Decades ago they were worn by the men chosen each year as Jach'a Tata,
who sacrificed themselves to the Gods in a decadent ritual to bless
the pachamama, or mother earth.
"It's very likely that people have danced themselves to death
wearing this very same mask,"
The ceremony is still being practiced by Aymara Indians on the wind-swept Andean plateau, but there have been no reports of deaths since 1953.
Masked dancers and bands
Pharmacist John Pembertons invention, Coca Cola
In 1985 Coca Cola purchased 204 tons of coca leaves. It doesn´t contain coca anymore but uses it for flavouring.
With prohibition in the 1920´s a need for a stimulating drink came about, hence the success of coca cola. parade through the steep streets of La Paz for the lavish
Jesus del Gran Poder (Jesus of Great Power) religious festival.
Some will dance in masks depicting the distorted faces of African
slaves, paying homage to slaves brought by Spanish conquerors.
Devil masks are worn for La Diablada, the central dance at the
Oruro carnival in mid-March, considered once of the world's
largest street festivals
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