What a city!! We arrived in La Paz via the ¨¨sea of the love¨ bus in copacabana. Boarding the 1:30 bus at 2pm we got the last, but best seats in the house, right next to the driver up front, on the other side of the glass... luckily they drive with more moderation here, than in Ecuador, and so it was very enjoyable, without the fear factor. At one point the bus stopped at a lake crossing, the bus got put onto a platform and taken across the lake, and we all boarded motor boats to meet it at the other side.We werent leaving the country, but we must have crossed peruvian waters or something, bc the police were out and checking passports... stupidly, mine was on the boat, which I explained and pointed to as it crossed the lake.. after some explanation and worried smiling, he let me pass.
La Paz is crazy, did I say that. The city is a huge sprawl you could see by bus as we circled around to the terminal. Hills coming up from the canyon are flooded with houses, every square inch. Once on the ground, its a mad race between taxis, buses, cars, and people, all going in opposite directions and forcing their way along. The streets are lined with markets and stands selling everything, and I mean everything. One common trend is the selling of random items on the street. Why have stores? One man has a handful of hangers and one antennae.. someone else is selling maps (I didnt think I wanted a map, but now that you are offering), then there is all the food, fruit.. some women only have 6 potatoes and some onions to offer, others have grand displays. In the area where our hostal is, there is a witches market where you can get natural potions, herbs, liquids, plants for whatever ails you. Fresh bags of aloe and san pedro stalks are plentiful. So are dried dead llama foetuses. Because it´s carnaval time, it´s particularly nutty. Today was like Halloween for the kids, lots of little kids dressed up in clownsuits, high school girls running around in devilish atire.. everyone loves throwing water balloons and using water guns.. in this area (including ecuador and peru) it seems around carnival time this is the tradition. In the streets you better keep your head up. Costumes. Everything is for sale in the streets, especially masks, everything from telletubbies, incredibles to evo morales masks, and all the gore and glitz in between. We are headed tomorrow to Oruro (bus picks us up at 3am), the folkloric capital of Bolivia 3 hours to the south, for the grand day of Carnaval (festival del diablo). It´s a 2 week affair, but tomorrow promises to be crazy, lively and full of dance, drink and all around chaos. In our tour package includes a can of spray foam and a poncho, the most essential elements. But we plan on buying masks to blend with the locals.
Today we went to the coca musuem. For all the money in the ïndustry¨it would be nice to through some at this struggling museum. The information was informative, but the displays were really funny, especially the guy smoking crack watching a malboro commercial on TV? Some interesting facts of note: Freud was the first consumer of cocaine in 1884. Coca leaves were first found in tombs of northern peru between 2500-1800 BC. The leaves are very sacred to the Andian culture, used for all sorts of healing and religious rituals. They are plentiful in the streets of La Paz, chewed by something like 85% of Bolivians, and used in tea quite frequently. In 100 grams of Coca =300 calories, =18g of protein, =5 grams of fat, =46 carbs, =14 grams of fiber, and 1540 grams of calcium. (maybe its not grams of each component, but the point was, they contain more than a lot of vegetables and grains). The leaves are known to increase stamina, ward off hunger and sleep, help you to breathe (oxiginate), and regulate your metabolism.. among other things.
Que mas... La Paz is out of control, in an excitingly overwhelming way. more on the festival, and la paz when we return...
