Exploring La Paz

We have two days in La Paz to take it really easy. After a leisurely start, we walked to San Francisco square. It didn’t take much for us to realise that Bolivia is not as developed as Peru. Footpaths are congested and squares are not manicured. This isn’t a criticism but merely a description. If anything, Peru was more polished than I had expected.

After taking a peek in side San Francisco church, we watched the peaceful worker’s protest before heading into Mercado Lanza. It wasn’t very busy as many stalls were closed. We had a good enough idea of the flower section, eateries and juice sections.

We continued to the pedestrian mall which led to the Cathedral which had been fenced off by riot police, protecting the Presidential Square against handicapped protesters. While they seem to let people through, we didn’t try. We came across the street where the handicapped protesters had set up their tents.

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We made our way back to the hotel for a brief rest, pork sandwich before heading to San Pedro Square (in front of the infamous prison) to meet up for our walking tour.

On the tour, we were told about this somewhat unique prison where there were no guards inside. Inmates had their families in there and they owned their accommodation. Then there was the enterprise going on inside, including drug dealing. Sometimes packages of “sugar” are thrown out by inmates who lifted their zinc roofs, on to dealers/customers on the street. Never never pick it up unless you want to get into big trouble.

For better or for worse, tours of San Pedro are no longer permitted. You may be able to do it with substantial risk though.

Next we were shown the markets and told about the bowler hats that the local women wear. They were marketed to by the Brits when the hats didn’t fit the men (supposedly). And the multi-layered skirts emphasise their hips and legs; it is desirable to have big child-bearing hips and thick strong legs.  Such women are referred to as “cholita”.

The walking tour came closer to our hostal where we saw the “witchcraft” market. It was like in Peru with llama/alpaca embryos as sacrifice for construction projects. We were reminded that human sacrifice is still seen as essential for large projects. Homeless people re the best victims and so it isn’t a good idea to get drunk and fall asleep on the streets of Peru and Bolivia.

As for love potions, we learnt about various dusts you blow into the back of people’s heads: follow me (for attraction), come with me (to get them to sleep with you), marry me and go away!

We were led down to San Francisco square, then Mercado Lanza for a rest/snack before going to the Cathedral and Presidential Square. We walked straight past the riot police. We were told that their purpose is to stop the handicapped from getting to the President.

Finishing at a local pub, our extremely good guide gave us plenty of good storys about their President who must be a bit like George Bush Jr in terms of intelligence. It had been an awesome walking tour just like the one we had in Arequipa. The difference here is that it is not free (due to complaints from tour operators), but a compulsory minimum price plus tip.

We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant near the hotel before treating ourselves to dessert at a very popular cafe called Glady’s.