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09 - La Paz, Bolivia

As the bus got near La Paz, traders got on the bus as if they were auditioning for a show. Some of them were so bad in their presentation, they would have been shown up by the first year students at my school Eisteddfod. (that is a welsh thing). Each taking turn to address the bus very loudly and politely, giving the passengers samples of their goods. Strangely enough, only the tourists seem to be convinced of their patter enough to part with money.

La Paz is a huge city with nearly 2 million people. It looks like a giant bowl when you enter the city. The city centre is right at the bottom of this bowl.
http://www.agas.2n.pl/south_america/Boliwia/Palacio Quemado, La Paz, Bolivia.jpg

It is still 3600 metres up. So you are always out of breath. There is a huge snow capped mountain at one end which makes it quite picturesque if you overlook the smog, dirt and wandering dogs. As with any big city all the people are in a rush only pausing to avoid the countless beggars with out stretched hands. In all of Peru, I must have seen about 2 beggars. may be they all moved to Bolivia. The ladies here bared a lot of skin unlike their counterparts from Peru. They thought nothing of breast feeding in the street and having the spare lunch bucket out ready for afters. Personally, I think more women should walk around topless. For one, it is good practice for when they become mothers and secondly in these days of equal rights, they should copy the men who walk around semi naked.

http://www.cas.usf.edu/vera/graphics/bolivia.gif

We went to a place called the Witches market where they sell stuff for black magic and all other malpractices and superstitions. Did you know burying a llama foetus under the foundations of a new house is lucky? Dried carcases of all types of creatures, blown up frogs (like in Shrek) are all sold here along with the magic portions and voodoo dolls they will customise to look like the intended victim on the road side while you wait.

http://www.krysstal.com/images/ctq20.jpg
http://www.andeanimages.com/galleries/bolivia/bolivia_markets/image/5.jpg

Another place of interest was the Coca museum. The story of coca leaves, coca cola, cocaine. Just as a point of interest, a gram of cocaine (not mixed with baby milk powder) retails here for around 60 pence. Now you can imagine why some people either become a Daniella Westbrook or a smuggler.
http://www.evilgerald.com/Issues/Issue5/story1.htm
http://www.cocamuseum.com/htm/layoutright.html

We then went to a place called Tiwanaku. Although this part of the world is known for Incas, they were only around for about 100 years. The Tiwanaku ruled from 1500BC to 1200AD. The museum and the site has a lot of their goodies.

http://www.gedlc.ulpgc.es/~gustavo/viajes/fotogif/sudameri/sudameri/amers32.jpg

One place we gave a miss to was advertised and well known locally as the most dangerous road in the world.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/newsletter/images/2001-10-01RoccoWorldsMostDangerousRoad.jpg

This title is based on the number of people who have not correctly negotiated the bends and as a result have plunged to their doom. Tourists are invited to do a 63km gravity assisted mountain bike ride down this hill in exchange for a T-shirt which boasts you cycling prowess and extra large genitals in a man's case. The day our friends Brian and Liz did it, there were fresh flowers for the bus with 45 passengers who didn't make it the previous day. If this sort of thing interests you,

please check out this link...
http://www.busplunge.org

Kofi Annan visited La Paz while we were there. There was a lot of military presence and all the associated pomp and ceremonious parades. We decided to give the man a miss in case somebody decided to decimate him.

Since leaving London, we had been starved of cinema. So we took the opportunity to see Bruce Almighty and A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. At one pound per film, I didn't want to come out!!

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