Well...we hit La Paz on Monday morning and began expolring this big, notorious city. Being a capital, La Paz has a commerical and business feel to it with suits and modern attire, mixed in still with the tradiotional skirts and hats of the women {albiet with more ruffles, lace and finer textures}. At an altitude of 3660m, it quite warm during the day and cold at night. The city is nestled between mountains and the centre sits snug in the middle so theres hills to walk to get anywhere.
The witches market is a fascinating strip where you can purchase anything from llama fetuses, herbs, potions, tiger skins...plus your regular Sth American offerings of woven goods and food and drinks. There is no excuse for having un-shined shoes here in La Paz with shoe shine boys on every corner. They wear woollen balaclavas and are quite an intimidating vision at first, but the reason for this is firstly due to the toxicity of the polish, and secondly because it is considered a lowly job and the balaclavas help with anonymity and allow them to be more forward (¨really no, we do not need our dirty suede hiking boots polished thanks!¨)
Our timing was particular good for arriving in La Paz, as Bolivia was playing Argentina in the World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. So we scored some tickets and went along. Due to the altitude and a supposed disadvantage to the visiting team, games are not often played here. But Argentina and Maradona thought they would give it a go anyway. Sold out stadium, awesome seats for 25 aussie dollars and wait for it...Bolivia won 6-1 !! Unheard of, and a historic moment for this country (espceially against one of the best teams in the world) and such an exicting game to be at.
A funny thing about the game was that you can buy tickets to it at a chicken shop in the middle of the city!! Chicken is big over here, and only in Bolivia can you buy tix to the world cup qualifier at the local chicken shop!! We have had several funny restuarant experiences including a stella visit to a Morroccan restuarnt but it doesnt translate in words.
We have not yet made it inside San Pedro jail {aka Marching Powder book for those who have read it}, however we have watched the prisoners being escorted in from the plaza in front. There are police guards around the place, but there are police with riot gear everywhere in Bolivia so this does little to signify that it´s a prison (we apparently missed a riot of some sort by 5 minutes the day of the futbol). The strange thing is that San Pedro is in the very centre of the city, as opposed to the outskirts like you would expect.
As well as a very visible police presence, Bolivia is filled with political messages painted on walls and highways. Messages of new consitutions and pro-Evo (the president) colour the country. Evo is well liked here, and partly for his yes-stance on coca. The chewin of coca in Bolivia is huge and deeply rooted in their traditions for everything. It dates back 2500 BC to pre Inca times (knowledge we acquired in the Coca Musuem). Despite being used in medicine (nowadays synathectic novacaine is used) and of course Coca Cola, coca leaves help the body to take in more oxygen and are therefore a key factor in the lives pf people who live at high altitude.
At the moment, we are in Corioco which is a beautiful town, again surrounded by mountains, but here it is lush and hot and humid. Condors circle the area, flying gracefully on the thermals. We have enjoyed the pool and the sushine today after a very adventuous day yesterday where we rode bikes down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road (or ´Death Road´ if you prefer the short version). Its 64 km, mostly downhill with cliff drop offs 600+ metres. At times the road is really narrow {although, we were expecting it to be worse}. These days, there are little vehicles on this road so not as dangerous as previously where many people have died every year (crosses regularly mark the road). It was fantastic and a real adrenalin thrill to be gunning it down gravel roads through rainforest and waterfalls and sketchy trails. Lots of fun.
Showing posts with label Futbol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Futbol. Show all posts
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
San Telmo, Buenos Aires
San Telmo is a section of Buenos Aires which is especially famous for tango. It´s just outside the city centre, and we stayed here for 4 nights. But alas, we did not tango...instead, we did the reggae-tone beat til early hours of the morning in true Buenos Aires style for Jeb´s birthday. Buenos Aires really doesnt sleep and the action does not kick off til after midnight and in clubs it all starts happening about 3am. Gives a new meaning to the word siesta, and we have definitely settled into the routine of sleeping late as a result. Dinner also does not happen til after 9pm so an adjustment of the clock is necessary.
The drink of choice (ok, lets be honest...one of the drinks of choice) for the bday evening was Fernet which is a popular drink in these parts of the country. Medicinal tasting liquor, with a hint of mint and herbs and a strange aftertaste...the only thing i can compare to is jagermeister. But you drink this with Coke and people love it here. So when in rome...
On a Sunday in San Telmo, there are famous antique markets where people flock to snag a bargain and experience the area in its quaint glory. Antiques dont interest me much but it was cool to wander through the streets and check out very old chandeliers, paintings, vases, watches etc, and watch street perfomers and tango dancers do their stuff in the cobblestone streets.
Futbol is a phenomenom here in Argentina, and a item on our agenda, so Sunday we went to a Boca Juniors game which is the most popular team in the Argentinian leagure and home to the legendary Diego Maradona. The area of La Boca is actually very impoversihed and quite dangerous at night with some sketchy slums and favella areas. Tix are all reservered for members of the stadium and there are more members than tix. We had heard some horror stories of people getting robbed and riped off and i wasnt confident of my spanish to haggle with scalpers so we opted for a tour option where tix were guarenteed. Was truly an experience and the vivacious fans go absoultely nuts. A concrete stadioum felt like it was moving amid the continous cheers, songs, jumping and dancing. Very squishy and packed but dry at least considering it was pouring rain and alot of people werent so lucky being under cover. Boca won 3-1 with all the action happening in the last half...very cool, glad we got to experience one of the most craziest futbol teams in the world in their home stadium.
But enough of Buenes Aires...we felt like we had seen everything and wanted to get out of the main city. BA is great but with its European architecture and big city feel, we wanted to move on to more Andean and inigenous areas. So on a bus today to Rosario which is still a major city north west of BA, but we on the move north. The seats on the bus for this 4 hour trip were awesome and they were only a`semicama´. This means you gets snacks, lunch, your seat fully reclines with lots of space and it comfy. For the next class up and not much more money, you can fully lay flat in the bus and sleep like a baby. We are heading to Iguazu Falls on Thursday in this kinda seating which is greta becuase its about 18 hours or so.
Thats definitely enough from me now...ciao x
The drink of choice (ok, lets be honest...one of the drinks of choice) for the bday evening was Fernet which is a popular drink in these parts of the country. Medicinal tasting liquor, with a hint of mint and herbs and a strange aftertaste...the only thing i can compare to is jagermeister. But you drink this with Coke and people love it here. So when in rome...
On a Sunday in San Telmo, there are famous antique markets where people flock to snag a bargain and experience the area in its quaint glory. Antiques dont interest me much but it was cool to wander through the streets and check out very old chandeliers, paintings, vases, watches etc, and watch street perfomers and tango dancers do their stuff in the cobblestone streets.
Futbol is a phenomenom here in Argentina, and a item on our agenda, so Sunday we went to a Boca Juniors game which is the most popular team in the Argentinian leagure and home to the legendary Diego Maradona. The area of La Boca is actually very impoversihed and quite dangerous at night with some sketchy slums and favella areas. Tix are all reservered for members of the stadium and there are more members than tix. We had heard some horror stories of people getting robbed and riped off and i wasnt confident of my spanish to haggle with scalpers so we opted for a tour option where tix were guarenteed. Was truly an experience and the vivacious fans go absoultely nuts. A concrete stadioum felt like it was moving amid the continous cheers, songs, jumping and dancing. Very squishy and packed but dry at least considering it was pouring rain and alot of people werent so lucky being under cover. Boca won 3-1 with all the action happening in the last half...very cool, glad we got to experience one of the most craziest futbol teams in the world in their home stadium.
But enough of Buenes Aires...we felt like we had seen everything and wanted to get out of the main city. BA is great but with its European architecture and big city feel, we wanted to move on to more Andean and inigenous areas. So on a bus today to Rosario which is still a major city north west of BA, but we on the move north. The seats on the bus for this 4 hour trip were awesome and they were only a`semicama´. This means you gets snacks, lunch, your seat fully reclines with lots of space and it comfy. For the next class up and not much more money, you can fully lay flat in the bus and sleep like a baby. We are heading to Iguazu Falls on Thursday in this kinda seating which is greta becuase its about 18 hours or so.
Thats definitely enough from me now...ciao x
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