We both had a nice breakfast in the hostel. As it was an open buffet I ate what I could, I had cereal, coffee with milk, a glass of orange, bread and butter, and a dish full of banana, papaya and melon. It was a good start to the day which I’d dedicated to catching up with some jobs so we could enjoy the rest of the trip around Bolivia following Ronald’s itinerary and using La Paz as a base.... read more

We left the church and went on to have breakfast in the local market with the local people. We had coffee with milk (fresh from the cow), bread and ‘queso fresco’ (fresh cheese made straight from the cows' milk that very day.) Ronald began telling me that Bolivians believe in Catholicism as well as paganism. For example, festivals such as ‘Carnaval’ are pagan festivals but they still celebrate the Catholic festivals that they do in Europe. In this way they integrate going to mass and Catholic ceremonies with earth worshipping rituals.We then looked around the shops and Ronald pointed out that they sell dehydrated, dead animals. Depending on your illness to get better you need to sacrifice a certain animal to the Gods by burning it. All Bolivians know which dehydrated animal they need to sacrifice ... read more

We were sold a Cruz Andina each - a piece of jewellery shaped in the form of a cross representing a sacred part of indigenous' people's history. The Andean Cross pre-Inca represented 13 months of the calendar year, and represented three important seasons. 21st March was the summer solstice, 21st June when the energy would enter the earth through the sun and 21stSeptember when the women would come and plant seeds in the ground and look after the earth. The 3 seasons were represented by the sky, the earth and the undergrowth? and these elements were represented by a condor (the sky), a puma (the earth) and a snake (the undergrowth) The Incas living on the Isla del Sol, every 6 months would sacrifice virgin women to the Madre Pachimana (God of the Earth) in order ... read more

Ronald showed me how the walls were made of wood on all the fences up in the hill, then we headed back to the town and had a coffee, bought two tickets for the boat trip to the Isla de Sol and packed our bags with water, bread, mortadela and tostado de macarrones for the boat trip. Whilst we ate Saltenas (a pastry filled with juice, olives, carrots, eggs, potatoes and chicken) we watched the daily ritual of the baptism of cars. Everyday people of the town who have just bought new cars park their cars in a line outside the church, they decorate the cars in flowers, dress them up and bring lots of food and drink to celebrate the baptism of the car. The priest then comes out of the church with holy water ... read more

Ronald and I took all my luggage up the hill to his Auntie’s house in Alto La Paz, at one of the highest points of the city. We headed up by Trufe and walked the rest of the way up into the clouds. We both packed little rucksacks with just the essential stuff and made our way to Copacabana. Before heading there, Ronald’s cousin, Franklin invited us to lunch in a restaurant where we had a four course meal - starter, then soup, then meat with potatoes and rice, and dessert – arroz con leche, rice pudding and apple juice. Here in Bolivia people eat enormous sized portions, but most of the food is home grown and there is a wide variety. If you want milk here you get it straight from the cow. The bus ... read more