Hi Guys,

GET YOUR LLAMA FETUS!

Well it's been awhile but we have been super busy here in Bolivia! After we last blogged we headed to La Paz- capital of Bolivia. Here we checked into the most 70s hotel in the world (4 different types of lino on the wall in our room, tree wall paper in the halls, piped music into the rooms - but very comfortable!) and started out exploring the city. On our first day we checked out Saganarga street - commonly referred to as Gringo Alley. Here there are about a billion tour agencies, lots of places to buy llama socks and other souvenirs and decent restaurants. In La Paz we've eaten at a good health food restaurant (where Ryan ate llama!) as well as at a Japanese/Thai/Indian place- yum! We also had a chance to see the Witches Market where you can buy all sorts of stuff to cure your ailments- powders and potions for better breathing, health etc, tiny bottles with charms for luck, love and travel and weirdly enough llama fetuses to bury under your porch when you build your house (apparently it brings good luck!) One thing that you certainly need luck for when in La Paz is the traffic! Cars, vans, buses speed from A to B through the city's hilly and windy streets. Collectivos or minibuses zoom everywhere (these are the cheapest way to get around the city), occasionally slowing down by groups of pedestrians with young boys, men or women leaning outside the passenger side door and chanting the vehicles route like some kind of mantra. Crazy!

SENORITA SMACKDOWN

The following day I was desperate to just catch a glimpse of San Pedro Prison, which may sound strange but it's the setting of a book I was reading at the beginning of our trip- Marching Powder. The book tells the story of an English guy who is put in San Pedro for drug smuggling and the crazy world inside- where prisoners have to pay for their own cells (to the extent where if you have enough money you may have an apartment like cell with kitchen and cable TV!) and many wives and children choose to live with their husbands inside the prison. Sure enough as we wandered past we caught a glimpse of many kids inside the gates and even more traditionally dressed Bolivian women waiting outside to visit. Fascinating! We then trekked up to a mirador (also a kids playground) for amazing views of the city and Mount Illimani, the snow topped mountain always visible as you walk around La Paz. That night we had something a little out of the ordinary planned - we were going to see some Cholitas Wrestling! This is kinda like Bolivian WWE but with ladies dressed in traditional Bolivian skirts, bowler hats and earrings. So we arrived at the tiny gymnasium in the El Alto part of La Paz, where a rung was set up ready for the wrestlers. While munching on popcorn and fairy floss we watched some wonderfully choreographed examples of play fighting - very unrealistic, but very entertaining in its display of athleticism if nothing else. A few different matches took place before we saw our first cholita - very exciting! It was really interesting to see the interactions between the wrestlers and the crowd - all the locals have their favorites whom they cheer for, and on the other hand, the 'bad guys' whom they boo and hiss at, as well as hurling popcorn, orange peel - anything on hand really - in their general direction. Occasionally, when the fights leave the ring, luchadores or wrestlers will go flying into the metal barricades set up in front of the gringo rows (the gringos get the ringside seats, with locals normally sitting behind in the bleachers) and give the foreigners a scare (or a great photo opportunity!). We had to wait about two and a half hours for the headlining and ultimate act of the night, dos contra dos or two against two, which was very, very entertaining! This act involved two cholitas, a wrestler called the Doberman and… wait for it… Hombre Arana or Spider Man!!! Some of the highlights of this headliner included synchronized wrestling moves, people breaking plastic chairs and crates over each others heads, one cholita tying another to a corner post by her pigtails, with the referee proceeding to beat her up to name a few. The fight dramatically concluded with the Spider Man being restrained and set on fire (!) and the aforementioned cholita being knocked out and carried out of the ring. A thoroughly entertaining evening!

Early night as the next day, we had a flight to the jungle to catch!

Short one this time folks, but we will have updates on our jungle adventures and more photos as well soon.
Also big birthday wishes and lots of love to mum from the both of us! Hope you had a great day!

Lots of Love,

Ryan and Hayley