The City of Stranges

So we went to La Paz! It's a pretty fun city, for a city. From the very moment we got there it seemed as if everyone was really busy doing something. We walked from the Cemetery where the bus dropped us off, to an area that had a few hostals. The streets were so packed, no chance of walking on the sidewalks because everyone was selling something on them. It was Sunday so we just guessed that it must of been market day, but woke up the next morning and nothing had changed... it's insanely busy everyday for no good reason we could see.

This was the first actual place where we were denied a bed at the first hostal we checked out. Not only that it happened at the next four places we went. Busy place. We lucked out and waited half an hour for a room at Hostal Cactus (heh).

The main reason we were in La Paz was to increase the number of days on our VISA because Bolivia only gives Canadians 30 days at the border (I thought everybody l oved us??), and we were looking to spend about 45 here. So most of the time we spent at the Immigration offices sorting things out. As is customary in SA, nothing works smoothly, or even roughly. We spent the good part of an hour finding the proper building, then waiting in line, then going and getting photo copies, and then some more waiting, then get a signature, then wait some more, then pay lots of money, then they tell us our passports need to stay overnight... we can "pick them up tomorrow at 5:30". Arrrg... so we killed another day in La Paz meandering.

The city is similar to lots of other places we've been, in that they follow the same format. For some reason, things are sold in clumps. There will be one whole street full of stalls or stores that sell only bananas. Another street will sell shoes. No one knows why everyone goes to the same place to sell the same thing, it's just the way it works. The most interesting place where they sell the same thing is the area called the witches market, and it just happened to be where our hostal was. There you can buy lots of strange herbs and elixirs to heal and cure, idols and charms to ward off evil, but probably the weirdest, and most striking are the petrified baby alpacas. Stall after stall, five or ten of them all sit in a bucket, shriveled little heads poking out at you as you walk by. Supposedly they are for burying beneath a new house or business for good luck, however the dead ones are only for the poorer folk; if you can afford it you are supposed to bury a real live one. Eeek!

Well we got our VISA extension, ate some wicked sandwiches, drank some delicious Bolivian wine from the south, and stocked up on Chocolate before leaving the city. Right now we are in Uyuni, a small touristy town in the southern desert.

After getting in around 7:30 on the overnight bus, we took it easy. Lots of people leave the same morning on 4WD tours of the Salt Flats and surrounding areas. We are hoping to rent some bikes and venture out on our own but as yet are unsuccessful. Near town is a train graveyard, where hundreds of old rusty train cars have been abandoned. It was pretty creepy walking out there along the tracks. The whole area out of town seems to have been used as a garbage dump, littered with broken glass and plastic bags, disheartening to say the least. A gusty breeze helped keep the intense heat off us as we explored the rusting cars. We found a quiet place amongst the debris to sit and laze away the day.