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Published: March 20th 2011
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I arrived in La Paz and after an internal debate I checked in to the infamous Wild Rover Hostel. I couldn't find many good options on Hostel World - either crazy party hostels or boring hotels. I wanted something sociable but not full of young drug and drink crazy backpackers uninterested in anything else.
Wild Rover seemed to be the best set up of all the hostels and turned out to the most notorious for wild all night partying. The social life of the hostel revolves around the manic Irish bar where friendly bartenders free pour alcohol in the mouths of the mass of drunken revellers, who often come from other hostels specifically to party.
This is the prime place for backpackers to hook up and get fuc ked up. When the bar closes everybody piles down to one of a number of nightclubs which don't start to fill up until around 2am. When they close the more hardy/foolish go to Route 36 - infamous for selling what's claimed to be Cocaine and allowing smashed tourists to do it on the tables. You normally see those that went there back in the hostel bar around 9-10am still up drinking.
I enjoyed my time in this madhouse and made quite a lot of friends - it's a sociable place. After spending my time mainly socialising with locals or doing treks and tours, I appreciated the opportunity to relax and let off some steam. In the two occasions I was there, before and after my trek (separate post), I was in the bar partying most nights. Several nights I made it out to one of the clubs, but I found the two most popular, Blue House and Traffic, to be boring. They were mostly just full of foreigners and played minimal techno. Where is the tropical music and scantily clad local girl dance partners I've come to know and love...
Actually, I found them in the Hard Rock Cafe - where the hostel went on a Sunday night as the other places were closed. It proved to be by far the best place so far - heaving with locals on a Sunday night - I danced with quite a few local beauties.
I'm pleased to say that I never went to Route 36, indeed had very little interest in doing so. Likewise, I didn't go to the other
notorious "sight" of La Paz - San Pedro prison. Half the people in the hostel were intent of getting in there. I don't mean by flaunting the anti-drug laws. The prison was made famous by the book "Marching Powder" which painted an intriguing picture of the corruption in the prison. The prison is essentially run by the inmates, most of which are convicted drugs dealers and smugglers, and the guards are paid off to turn a blind eye. The prisoners go out on the town, have their families stay with them, and deal Cocaine.
It became a trend for backpackers to pay off a guard to have a look around the prison, usually arranging with a prisoner to hang out with them and do Cocaine, for a fee. Now it's pretty sketchy with public pressure to contain the scandal and a group of Australians got deported after being caught in there. In fact, Australians are by far the worst coke offenders in La Paz - presumably due to the prohibitively high prices in Oz.
If having been in Colombia wasn't enough to convince me of the evil of Cocaine (which it was), going to the Coca Museum was.
My main take home was that it's manufactured using Sulphuric Acid, Hydrochloric Acid, Kerosene, Potasium Permanganate and other very dangerous and toxic chemicals. It's generally produced by non-skilled people in very basic conditions. This means that these chemicals are usually not properly neutralised and remain in the finished product.
Also interesting excursions were my visit to the art gallery and to the witches' market. The witches' market sells all sorts of wierd things such as dried llama foetuses, dried frogs, and a variety of talisman type objective. Bolivians buy a llama foetus to put under there new house to bring good luck. Frogs are placed in the house to bring luck and prosperity.
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Lesley Stableford
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Great piece of work!