Dried llama foetus, anyone?

We are staying at a wonderful colonial style hotel in La Paz, the best of the trip so far and we are all enjoying not being on a bus, the comforts of hot water, bbc world service, friendly english speaking staff, a lovely cafe and lots of little patios that are dotted around the place for us to sit in and read. We need it because some of us are not really 100% and we are all very tired (bus ride last night was OK but the road was typically Bolivian ie unpaved a lot of the way and the first half of the ride was a real boneshaker). Bruce has kindly given me his streaming cold and I have kindly given my gippy insides to Ben. We like to share!

We arrived here at 6am. Luckily we got a taxi to the hotel as we had thought we would walk from the bus station since it was not far but the streets were incredibly congested with a huge market area that felt more like Delhi than La Paz and (we later learned) the area is not really safe at that time of day. Safety is our top priority after BA! Later on, we explored the witches market nearby - not pointy black hat sort of witchery, more herbal medicine and folk remedies. Dried llama foetus anyone? or perhaps a dried frog or cat? the former is sold to be buried underneath the front door when building a new home to encourage prosperity and happiness, the latter I think are used for their aphrodisicac properties but could be wrong. There were certainly plenty of love potions for sale but I was more interested in the beautiful colourful handicrafts for sale at simply amazing prices. This is the first real opportunity I´ve had on the trip to shop so I did most of my Christmas shopping in about 20 minutes, had to buy a new bag to carry it all in. S & B tell Bruce and I that we look like Kath and Kel in our matching Andean hats with pom poms! Oh yes, I had to dodge a falling live wire that was about to land on my head, lucky Bruce spotted it coming. (The wiring here would give you a heart attack, Pete!) I do quite like La Paz, it´s certainly wonderful when you turn a corner and are greeted with with unexpected view of the Andes. The streets are very steep and there´s always lots of activity. And lots of beggars.

Tomorrow we are off to Copa, Copacabana! no, not *that* Copacabana, there is another one on Lake Titicaca, and from there to Isla del Sol, a small island on the lake. We are hoping to spend a couple of days there before heading to Peru, lots of people have told us it´s beautiful and Lonely Planet says it´s like an Aegean island. I´m not holding my breath as LP is prone to exaggeration at times (remember Villamontes?) but it sounds nice and just what we need at the moment. Not sure what internet access will be like there so the next update may well be from Peru.

Ciao amigos

Jackie
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