Anxiety, dancing and wrestling in La Paz (21-24 July 2012)

We usually don’t really like big, busy cities and La Paz was no different. The altitude and especially all the stories about robberies that we had heard before we got to La Paz probably didn’t help. Situations such as catching a taxi or walking past police had us sweating. In the end, nothing happened to us and we never had a reason to feel unsafe, but unfortunately the bad experiences that unlucky travelers had shared with us beforehand, affected our time in this jam-packed city, which spreads over the hills at an altitude of nearly 4000m.

Apart from our anxiety, we managed to enjoy not only the view of La Paz from the higher suburbs but also some cultural highlights.

Bolivia loves a good fiesta and La Paz was full of them. No matter where we went, there was always some music and dancing around.

Hunting for lunch, we ran into a carnival-like parade of Bolivia's different Indigenous groups. The main street through the city was closed for the parade, which went on for hours and hours. All groups had their own band/orchestra, a special dance and a theme to which they were dressed.

The next day we caught a bus up to the suburb El Alto for a special cultural treat: The Cholitas Wrestling.

 

The Cholitas are Indigenous women and as the name suggests, they wrestle! I've never liked this sport/form of entertainment but the Cholitas in their traditional dresses, the bad acting skills of the wrestlers, and the over-exited crowd throwing oranges at wrestlers (and random gringos) definitely made for an interesting show.

After the Cholitas had whipped some arse, we had another chance to enjoy La Paz from above before we would make our way to greener pastures the next day...

More photos of fiestas and wrestlers here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/109362659982164453049/LaPaz?authuser=0&feat=directlink