Llama fetuses, El Presidente and the nicest town plaza in South America

I haven´t generally been that fond of big cities this trip, generally preferring the cute friendly towns or quiet countryside, but for some reason I quite liked La Paz. 

Perhaps it´s just Bolivia in general that interests me, it seems different from other South American countries in that it's distinct culture is more tangible. Indigenous ladies with their big skirts, braids, alpaca legwarmers and bowler type hats are everywhere.  On my first night La Paz walking home from dinner there were young people in the street doing a kind of line-dancing thing, the girls with colourful skirts and the guys doing their dance with bells on (literally, on their legs!)  It was a long weekend - the 16th being La Paz day, the day when La Paz was won in the war for independence against the Spanish.  So I guess there was extra cultural pride going on around town, but it was cool.  I saw Evo Morales! I can´t say I´ve ever been excited to see any countrys president in the flesh before, but Evo is kinda cool.  The first Indigenous president of the country, he´s the former leader of the coca-growers union and is very outspoken against I.M.F/ U.S. exploitation of South American wealth.  On the Sunday there was a parade and I went with a couple of people from the hostel to join the hundreds of Bolivians lined up in the Plaza Murillo.  We watched the parade for like an hour - La Paz has a lot of marching bands!  But there were also traditionally dressed farmers, people dressed up as zebras for some reason, a contingent from the Bolivian Navy (we all speculated over that one given Bolivia is landlocked - relic from the time when it had access to the Pacific? Defending Bolivia from invasion via Lake Titicaca?) but finally along came Evo in his presidential sash, carrying a flaming torch, getting huge applause from the crowd.  Of course he´s not loved by all in Bolivia, but it´s interesting to be in a place where politics isn't a depressingly boring game of same-same.  Anyway, after the parade we found this street stall where some women were selling some kind of drink out of big pots on the stove, with foamy milk on top.  It was like a cappuccino/chai type thing but alcoholic - especially for La Paz Day, so delicious!  While in La Paz I also had fun in the Musical Instrument museum where there are all kinds of strange instruments, I got to play a kind of xylophone made from an armadillo and this cool harp thing.  I went to the witches markets where you can buy all sorts of herbal potions, but also dried llama fetuses if you so desire (ick!). 

I also had a first-rate night out with a group of great people from the hostel- quite a diverse crowd we had a Belgian, American, a Scottish girl, a Portugese guy and French girl, and me.  One of them had a Bolivian mate who decided to be our night-life guide for the evening, which he did a very fine job of.  After dinner we went to the Warm Up Bar in the city´s south which was pretty posh, then we went to a smaller Bolivian bar with lots of dancing and rum.  The music there was great - one minute it was early nineties dance hits 'I´ve got the power!' then it was Bolivian folk tunes with a dancey beat.  None of us were really sure how to dance to those tunes but we had fun and no doubt amused the locals by trying.  We found an Italian and another Frenchie to add to the group then it was onto an ´underground´ bar (which was actually above ground) where we sat around on couches in fluro decor, chatting away til the sun came up.  So all in all La Paz was great! 

After the hecticness of La Paz, coming to Sucre has been just delightful.  Although the city is ttechnically the country's capital, it has a much quieter more relaxed feel.  And it's gorgeous.  Its been UN World Heritage listed for it's town centre, which has tonnes of beautiful old colonial buildings all painted white.  I´m not generally that interested in architecture, but everywhere you look here things are just pretty.  It´s main plaza the Plaza 25 de Mayo, is the most beautiful of the dozens I`ve seen in South America.  The trees are really tall for a start, and there are fountains and lions sculpted out of grass, not to mention cute Bolivian kids running everywhere.  This afternoon I just sat on a park bench with an ice cream (it´s winter but the sun is so bright it gets hot in the middle of the day) and people watched.  Theres also a really lovely mirador at the top of the hill where you can sit on a deck chair, have a fresh juice and look out over the city, a great place to get lost in a book for hours.  I also had a nice time in the Park Bolivar where I had a great hula hoop session yesterday, getting into the flow with the music (and even finding new moves!) 

So I´m pretty much loving Bolivia.  Later I´m catching a bus to Tupiza where I'll line up a tour to the famous Salaar de Uyuni, which I'm also excited about:)  Catch you on the flip side!