Bolivia Day 11 - La Paz walking tour

Our first stop of the day was at one of the main squares of La Paz. Plaza Murillo was a busy place surrounded on all sides by colonial buildings. After exploring the square for a little while we met up with a tour guide for a walking tour of some of the less explored areas of la paz. The first stop on our tour was the cemetery. To our amazement and despite the rain this was a very happy place. The culture around death in Bolivia is one of celebration, a celebration of the individual moving into the next life. After 5 years friends and relatives are expected to rid themselves of all of the deceased former possessions and essentially keep only a photo to be used as part of an annual celebration. More mind blowing was the fact that they remove and cremate the bodies after 5 years of resting in the cemetery. No matter how rich or poor a body will be removed after the 5 year rental period. Regardless of wealth your assignment into the cemetery upon death is random chance as well. Rich and poor are buried side by side with the only distinguishing feature being the decorative front panels.

After leaving the cemetery with the weather improving slightly we took one of the cable cars up to the el Alta neighborhood which sits on the plateau above the city. In el alta we explored the very authentic witches market and walked past the endless rows of shaman fortune teller houses. Superstitions are still alive and well in Bolivia. Eventually our tour returned back into La Paz and we stopped at a bakery before making our way to the very touristic Cholita wrestling. Cholita is the name given to the traditionally dressed ladies of the high Andes and at some point in the past few decades some of the women found a passion for wwe style wrestling. Dressed in their large and colorful skirts the wrestling provided us a couple of hours of entertainment.

We finished the day passing back through Calle Jean and then finding dinner.