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And so I went to La Paz. I dont think writing in order about it is gonna work, apart from the day I cycled the road of death.
One day, I cycled the road of death, or as they call it, death road. It is so named because according to statistitians, this is the road where most people die. But I think that was mainly around 10 years ago, and its mainly from bad drivers, though it still has the name. Anywho, we drove to the start of this road...got a real nice bike that was worth 3000 pounds, because I went with a fancy company. Then, we cycled down. The first 32km was paved road, pretty nice, amazing views over the cliff edge. Then we got to the gravel section which is the old part, it was crazy. Its a 2 way road but with one lane, with a 400 metre drop on the side. I cant remember why but we had to cycle as close as we could to the edge with the drop because it was safest. So we went down there another 30km or so, it was a lot of fun, definitely best bike ride in the world. Then we went to a pasta buffet where i made my money back. Then a pretty rubbish animal sanctuary and then home.
La Paz is a pretty crazy city it turns out. Its about 3600 m above sea level, the streets are all uphill whichever way you go, and because it like a basin theres tonnes of pollution swarming overhead, so I was always out of breath. They dont have many shops, just tonnes and tonnes of markets, where you see old ladies drowing in piled up oranges and pots and pans and bags of corn and spices and butchered meat and fish and fake clothes and stolen electronics. Walking around was a lot of fun, my favourite bit was the witches market, where you could buy llama fetuses for good luck and magic potions. I bought one of those local jumpers and a load of other cool stuff. I got my haircut there in a local hairdresser, that was fun, i got to choose from all these 1980s haircuts. It was actually the best haircut i ever got, and it cost a pound, so i tipped 100%. As in pretty much all of bolivia, there were political marches and demonstrations every day, where thousands of people with nothing better do just walk together through the street and shout that the people, united, will never be defeated, though i was never sure what they were protesting about, since most people love Evo morales...one demonstration was against the ex-president who stole some money and now lives happily in america. I dunno if this is true, but i heard that everyone from this certain district had to go or they got fined 50 bolivianos (3 quid).
I think that the people have quite a lot of influence in bolivia, not just on the political level. When we were coming from sucre, two of my friends got off the bus at one of the stops at 4am, and had had some sleeping pills and so forgot to get back on. So wen the bus left, I was arguing with the bus driver to stop, but he said no, 10 minutes was up. But then all the old women on the bus started shouting Stop the bus, stop the bus! and going crazy, so they stopped a mile or so down the road and waited for them.
Theres a lot of things in La paz, and bolivia in general, that just seem odd. In an english pub where we went for breakfast, they served tea in pint glasses, thinking it was very english. And wenever you buy a drink on the street, you have to stand there and drink it in fornt of them and give back the bottle. And they sell liquid tea in plastic bags if you want to take it away. Some tourists find the bolivians lack of mathematical skill very strange...if theyre adding something like 7 and 4 they go and get a calculator, which is understandable if youre not taught i guess. But i think theyd be shocked at westerners lack of political knowledge...on the street corners where they sell chocolate bars the same stalls have incredibly highbrow books like Marx{s commi manifesto or Jeremy Sachs economics books or philosophy classics like Plato. I had a one way conversation with a woman on the bus who ranted about bolivian politics over the last 20 years for about an hour. Theres millions of other peculiarities that i cant remember right now to make it a pretty surreal place.
We saw some good live music there, my favourite was this afro-bolivian drumming group, but i also like the folk music on the streets.
After La Paz, I went to Copacabana, a town on the edge of lake Titicaca. Twas a nice place, loads of places to eat and buy knicknacs. We went on a day trip to the Isla del Sol, an island where, according to the Incas, the sun was born. The boat we got there was so cool, all the passengers had to move to the front of the boat to make it go faster. The island wasnt that great, a nice walk tho. According to the locals, it was where the inca civilisation started, tho i wasnt convinced. They also had a sacrifice table, which looked pretty new, a big rock thats apparently one of the 3 great forces of the incan empire alongside chitchen itza and machu picchu, and some inca steps that just looked like all the other steps...i was a bit unimpressed, but as i was heading back to the boat, i stumbled across a huge traditional wedding, which was amazing to see.
The last day in copacabana was a sunday, and im with some irish friends with catholic tendencies, so we went to the huge churchy cathedral thing. Its such a good church that the city in brasil, copacabana, the famous one in that song, is named after it. It was a grand place, especially from the outside. At one point in the service (we were there for about 3 mins) everyone started hugging and congratualting each other, even us tourists, which was very nice. Ah, also, they have very nice trout in lake titcaca. Then I left for Peru...
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