So now I'm on my own again, at least for a little while. I miss the group I travelled with, but it is also nice to be "on my own". I get to write in my journal which I haven't done for way to long, I get to upload some fotos to dropbox so I have space on my camera and I have to do a lot of other practical stuff. Apparently someone copied my creditcard and used it in the US. They stole 550$. Hopefully my bank will cover this. This is the only thing I've had stolen so far though.
On the 5th of February somebody tried to steal out of my shoulderbag twice during the day. Fortunately I busted them both times. Even if they succeeded, they wouldn't get anything of value since all is in my pockets under my fleece.
Well, what else did I do in La Paz besides practical stuff?
I've been walking around quite a lot which is nice, the city is very beautiful. One day I came across a soccergame in the middle of the plaza in front of the basilica and the market. It was the shoeshiners who were playing. La Paz has a lot of shoeshiners! They are all over the city and in all ages. I've seen kids around 10 years old and also old men. Anyway, many of them were taking a break to play soccer or to cheer at those who did.
I stayed and watched for one hour. Great entertainment. Some of them were quiet good and some pretty lazy. They made the goals out of their workboxes and of course they didn't have a judge, which suprisingly enough worked out quite well. Sometimes I enjoyed the great soccer and sometimes I laughed about them falling in weird and very tired ways (everyone laughed, also themselves). At some point one of them leaned over to pick up the ball and another guy kicked him in the ass so he fell, it looked exactly like in a cartoon! :)
On sunday the 3rd I went to watch the famous Cholita wrestling in El Alto. I booked a tour and got picked up by a bus that first took us to a great viewpoint where we could see all of La Paz and afterwards took us to the fight. At first it was men fighting. First match was the ninja vs some big guy. There was some pretty crazy tricks and some really bad acting - it was a nice fight. Afterwards Batman was on against somebody and then finally the first cholita went on, fighting against Spiderman. It was very entertaining and also very obvious that no one got hurt. Their acting was really bad, but some of the tricks were pretty cool. The cholita even threw Spiderman over her head twice!
There was only one fight between two cholitas, which was enough. The acting was extremly bad and the fighting worse. It was good entertainment though, extremly hilarious.
After the event the bus took me back to the hostel where I met Brandon from USA, who had been on the same tour. We went together to the skybar at the hostel with one of his friend, bought the bbq, had our free beer and watched the Superbowl final! The second american football game I have ever watched and it was a great and very tense game!
I also met Rob again on the 4th of february. While I was traveling with the girls, he spent some time in La Paz and went to a festival in Copacabana. We chilled a bit in the bar on the 4th. On the 5th I came back to the hostel in the evening. I meet Rob, two german girls and a danish guy and they invite me to the cinema with them to watch Django - Amazing movie!
Now I found out where to spend carneval. I wanted to go to Oruro, but it was to expensive, since all hostel prices are 250 bolivianos or more and all the cheap ones got booked months in advance. Through couchsurfing I was invited to stay at a school near the center of Oruro. Many couchsurfers will be staying there and it is only gonna cost 50 bolivianos pr. night! I can´t wait to get there!
A bit about La Paz and Bolivia:
La Paz is quite a nice city to just walk around in. It is beautiful and there is many nice markets. You can eat lunch at a market near my hostel for just 7 bolivianos (1$) and you will be more than full! Afterwards you can go get a coffee for just 2,5 boliviano. You also get salteñas on the street for 2,5 boliviano and I only need two to fill me up.
Unfortunately the city have a lot of kids begging on the street. Walking up to you and throwing their open hand right into your stomach or towards your face to get money. Also there is very young girls standing with a small radio and dancing for hours to earn money. That is not the nicest thing to see.. I did read though that most of the beggars actually earn more money than some of the people who actually work, so this is a bit of a comfort.
Bolivia itself is an interesting country. So far I have experienced many bolivians to be quite rude. Also many of them don´t seem to have interest in earning money. They just ignore you or responds rudely to your question. In Copacabana they even left their shop open even though they were not there. We waited for 5 minutes and tried to yell for someone, but nobody came. We could´ve just walked in and taken whatever we wanted, but of course we didn´t.
In Uyuni we met some Bolivians and they told us that people were more friendly and open in cities like Santa Cruz, Potosi and Uyuni while more rude in f.x. La Paz. This is also what we experienced. When we came to Potosi, everybody were really helpfull, friendly and very polite!
Bolivia is a great country though, it is cheap and have a lot to offer!
On the 5th of February somebody tried to steal out of my shoulderbag twice during the day. Fortunately I busted them both times. Even if they succeeded, they wouldn't get anything of value since all is in my pockets under my fleece.
Well, what else did I do in La Paz besides practical stuff?
I've been walking around quite a lot which is nice, the city is very beautiful. One day I came across a soccergame in the middle of the plaza in front of the basilica and the market. It was the shoeshiners who were playing. La Paz has a lot of shoeshiners! They are all over the city and in all ages. I've seen kids around 10 years old and also old men. Anyway, many of them were taking a break to play soccer or to cheer at those who did.
I stayed and watched for one hour. Great entertainment. Some of them were quiet good and some pretty lazy. They made the goals out of their workboxes and of course they didn't have a judge, which suprisingly enough worked out quite well. Sometimes I enjoyed the great soccer and sometimes I laughed about them falling in weird and very tired ways (everyone laughed, also themselves). At some point one of them leaned over to pick up the ball and another guy kicked him in the ass so he fell, it looked exactly like in a cartoon! :)
On sunday the 3rd I went to watch the famous Cholita wrestling in El Alto. I booked a tour and got picked up by a bus that first took us to a great viewpoint where we could see all of La Paz and afterwards took us to the fight. At first it was men fighting. First match was the ninja vs some big guy. There was some pretty crazy tricks and some really bad acting - it was a nice fight. Afterwards Batman was on against somebody and then finally the first cholita went on, fighting against Spiderman. It was very entertaining and also very obvious that no one got hurt. Their acting was really bad, but some of the tricks were pretty cool. The cholita even threw Spiderman over her head twice!
There was only one fight between two cholitas, which was enough. The acting was extremly bad and the fighting worse. It was good entertainment though, extremly hilarious.
After the event the bus took me back to the hostel where I met Brandon from USA, who had been on the same tour. We went together to the skybar at the hostel with one of his friend, bought the bbq, had our free beer and watched the Superbowl final! The second american football game I have ever watched and it was a great and very tense game!
I also met Rob again on the 4th of february. While I was traveling with the girls, he spent some time in La Paz and went to a festival in Copacabana. We chilled a bit in the bar on the 4th. On the 5th I came back to the hostel in the evening. I meet Rob, two german girls and a danish guy and they invite me to the cinema with them to watch Django - Amazing movie!
Now I found out where to spend carneval. I wanted to go to Oruro, but it was to expensive, since all hostel prices are 250 bolivianos or more and all the cheap ones got booked months in advance. Through couchsurfing I was invited to stay at a school near the center of Oruro. Many couchsurfers will be staying there and it is only gonna cost 50 bolivianos pr. night! I can´t wait to get there!
A bit about La Paz and Bolivia:
La Paz is quite a nice city to just walk around in. It is beautiful and there is many nice markets. You can eat lunch at a market near my hostel for just 7 bolivianos (1$) and you will be more than full! Afterwards you can go get a coffee for just 2,5 boliviano. You also get salteñas on the street for 2,5 boliviano and I only need two to fill me up.
Unfortunately the city have a lot of kids begging on the street. Walking up to you and throwing their open hand right into your stomach or towards your face to get money. Also there is very young girls standing with a small radio and dancing for hours to earn money. That is not the nicest thing to see.. I did read though that most of the beggars actually earn more money than some of the people who actually work, so this is a bit of a comfort.
Bolivia itself is an interesting country. So far I have experienced many bolivians to be quite rude. Also many of them don´t seem to have interest in earning money. They just ignore you or responds rudely to your question. In Copacabana they even left their shop open even though they were not there. We waited for 5 minutes and tried to yell for someone, but nobody came. We could´ve just walked in and taken whatever we wanted, but of course we didn´t.
In Uyuni we met some Bolivians and they told us that people were more friendly and open in cities like Santa Cruz, Potosi and Uyuni while more rude in f.x. La Paz. This is also what we experienced. When we came to Potosi, everybody were really helpfull, friendly and very polite!
Bolivia is a great country though, it is cheap and have a lot to offer!
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