Getting to know Bolivia : La Paz

The indigenous ladies are referred to as Cholitas. They wear full mid-calf skirts with layers and layers of petticoats, flat slipper type shoes, tops and shawls, and the classic bowler hat. The bowler hat looks a little odd but gives them a certain look for sure. We had been seeing them since we arrived to Bolivia a few days ago. Can you imagine our surprise when the guy at the Coca Travels company suggested we spend the afternoon on Sunday at a Cholitas wrestling event. We couldn't resist and it turned out to be quite hilarious. Jens and I would turn to each other and say; "what are we doing here...?". Well, anyway, you have to do some silly things once in a while.

We had spent the afternoon visiting the site at Tiwanaku which consisted of a tour of two museums, both in rather sad shape, but one had the stone statue of Pacha-mama which was quite magnificent (no pictures allowed...can't understand why cause it's just a big stone and I doubt that flash would not harm it in any way...but I guess it's their claim to fame and creates more of a mystique around the whole thing). Actually, Tiwanaku was home to yet another lost civilization and unfortunately the site was severely looted by the Spaniards. The gold and other treasures were sent back to Spain, the stones were used for a nearby cathedral and later some remaining stones were crushed and used for the railway line. But, the archeologists are still finding mummies and statues.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but chewing Coca leaves is very common here and in Peru. They chew it to give them more energy for the long days of working in the fields. In fact, our porters on the Machu Picchu trek all chewed Coca. Jens even tried it and he felt it really helped him. The only downside is a discoloring of the teeth if you chew it often enough and a fairly bad breath. There was a Coca museum in La Paz which was quite informative. The Coca leaf has a long and interesting history. The introduction of Coca to North America was as an anesthetic. We all know about Coca Cola which used the Coca to give you energy and was advertised as such but now only uses the Coca flavour. But it was only when us smarty pants decided to concentrate it to a powder form and stick it up our noses did it become a banned substance.

Ok, enough about Coca. La Paz is an old Colonial city and at first glance the streets look a little shabby. But most buildings are constructed with an inner court which is usually quite opulent with lots of arches and carved wood. You need only to step through the doorway to discover an peaceful inner court. Our hostel was also built this way. We had a great location, just opposite the San Francisco cathedral and on one of the main market streets.

Now it's off to Sucre on an overnight bus. Sucre is the capital of Bolivia and is said to be the most beautiful city in the country. Stay tuned for more!