On about Wednesday of last week, my friend Derek and I decided to take a weekend trip up to La Paz (the capital of Bolivia) for a little sightseeing. We realized that we've been in Bolivia for two months now and have only been to Oruro for Carnaval. Time to get moving on the traveling! The most popular way to travel around Bolivia is by bus so after classes on Friday I took a taxi trufi down to the bus station to purchase tickets for the night bus. There was a lecture series at the institute that week on Latin American history and we didn't want to miss the last presentation, or the social hour afterwards. Despite my trepidations, everything went smoothly. When I signed us up the bus was completely empty so we had our choice of seats. When I got back to the institute and started looking at the ticket more closely, I saw that I had signed up for a bus cama. I remembered when talking with the sales associate she said what I thought was "busca" which means "search" and thought she was asking if I was looking for tickets. She was actually asking if I wanted the bus cama which is the sleeper bus, where the seats recline. I love when I accidentally sign up for the right thing. We rolled out of Coch at about 11pm and arrived in La Paz at 6:30am. After a couple hours nap at the Maryknoll house we headed out to start seeing the sights.
We didn't get far before Derek spotted a man selling hats on the street and just had to have the Spiderman hat. Pictured below is said hat with proud 36 year old owner.
The first stop was the main plaza and San Francisco, picture below. The church was beautiful inside, but I only got off two pictures before a policeman told me that pictures weren't allowed, even though I had the flashed turned off. That was not the last time that my picture taking was prohibited on the trip. Along the plaza there were countless shoe-shiners. As far as I can tell it is one step up from begging. Derek was wearing hiking boots and I had on tennis shoes and we got many offers to get them shined. La Paz is situated at about 12,000 feet above sea level and it is pretty cold, especially in the morning. When we saw the shoe-shine kids, they had on ski masks which I thought was because of the cold but even when it warmed up they kept them on. It was explained to us that they were ashamed and didn't want their faces recognized.
About four blocks from the plaza was the famed "Witch's Market" We had to see what all the fuss was about. It was actually very benign and small. It wasn't a market like I have become accustomed to, with complete chaos and loads of people. It just a two streets with vendors selling odd trinkets like incense, gem-encrusted frogs, and fossils. The most startling and popular item for sale was llama fetuses. They ranged in sizes and stages of development. As a rule, it is rude to take pictures in the market but one friendly vendor told us that it was okay. Below is a basket of little llamas, the smallest that we saw along the strip. Some were much bigger and even had hair. The fetuses are placed under the foundations of houses to ward off evil spirits. The going rate for a small one like in the picture is about 200 Bs or $15.
We traveled all over the city on Saturday, combining the recommendations of Derek's Lonely Planet and my Footprints Bolivian guidebooks. There are a handful of museums in La Paz and we were really interested in the archaeological museum because it had many artifacts from the Incan and Tiawanaku civilizations. Our plan was to go out to the Tiawanaku on Sunday and we wanted a preview. Unfortunately, it was closed until Monday so we headed to the Coca Museum. The books said that it was very engaging and educational. I thought that I was pretty educational but not very engaging. It was a collection of pictures and displays on the first floor of what looked like someone's old house. They had everything translated into booklets in English and in German, covering material from the origins, to the connections with cocaine, and modern treatments for addicts. They even had free samples on the way out the door. I had Mate de Coca (coca tea) with breakfast every morning in La Paz and didn't suffer any effects of altitude sickness, but haven't gotten the point where I want to chew the coca like many of the Bolivian natives. This is a picture of an old fashioned coca press located just outside the museum.
We traveled all over the city on Saturday, combining the recommendations of Derek's Lonely Planet and my Footprints Bolivian guidebooks. There are a handful of museums in La Paz and we were really interested in the archaeological museum because it had many artifacts from the Incan and Tiawanaku civilizations. Our plan was to go out to the Tiawanaku on Sunday and we wanted a preview. Unfortunately, it was closed until Monday so we headed to the Coca Museum. The books said that it was very engaging and educational. I thought that I was pretty educational but not very engaging. It was a collection of pictures and displays on the first floor of what looked like someone's old house. They had everything translated into booklets in English and in German, covering material from the origins, to the connections with cocaine, and modern treatments for addicts. They even had free samples on the way out the door. I had Mate de Coca (coca tea) with breakfast every morning in La Paz and didn't suffer any effects of altitude sickness, but haven't gotten the point where I want to chew the coca like many of the Bolivian natives. This is a picture of an old fashioned coca press located just outside the museum.After a 7 hour bus trip through the night, little sleeping, depleted oxygen levels and climbing hills, it was quite an exhausting day in La Paz. After supper and a movie, Derek decided to hit up a jazz bar that we passed on the way home and I decided to sleep.
To follow: Sunday in the Tiawanaku ruins and the exciting conclusion to our trip.
1 comment:
I was relieved when I finally read that the yucky looking things in the basket were for luck and not for eating!!!
Sorry to hear about the forbidden church pictures. I would have liked to see those.
Post a Comment