To Oruro to find a hotel for Carnaval

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This will be a relatively short entry as not much really happened this Saturday that I spent in Oruro. My goal for this trip to Oruro was to find a hotel for my friends and I for Carnaval as it was coming up in less than a month and the rooms were going quick. Friday after work, I zipped to the bus terminal to try to catch a 7PM bus to Oruro so that I would arrived at around 10:30PM. After waiting in line for a few minutes, the bus company said they were full. Then they came around saying they had one seat left, the one in the back in the middle, and I took that. The advantage of this I guess, is that they snuck me through their office to the bus so that I would not have to pay the 1.50 Bs terminal tax, a saving of about 20 cents. The night to Oruro was very uneventful as it was dark out and nothing could be seen outside the bus. Whatever movie they showed on the bus, I missed as like on must buses, my eyes started to feel heavy and I feel asleep. When I got to Oruro, I started walking towards the main plaza and ended up finding a nice room for 30 Bs a night at Residencial 21 de Abril. I inquired about rooms for Carnaval and the owner showed me a room with eight beds, six being single beds and two doubles, so the room would sleep ten. This was great... the first hotel I went to and they had a room for my friends and I at $10 per night per person. The next morning, I decided to search more but the prices were absolutely crazy when hotels still had availability. Most were going for about $250 for a double room for the three-night minimum that is imposed during Carnaval. So after making so phone calls back to La Paz, I had reserved the room and paid for it in the late afternoon. With my remaining few hours in Oruro, I talked to the young guy working at the hostel about life, politics, education, you name it, we talked about it. Great practice for my Spanish I must say! Anyhow, this entry is mainly just to post some pictures of what Oruro looks like. I personally like the city, but many people think that it is very ugly... probably doesn't help that the guide books say this as well!

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Photos

Political graffiti
One of the big issues being discussed at the moment is the new constitution that is being drafted up. The opposition would like to see it pass if it has 2/3 of the support of the government.