La Paz, Bolivia

Crazy city! About 1.5million inhabitants (although they are not sure how accurate this figure is!) but it feels like many more. The roads don´t seem to have any rules, the drivers jump red lights, the crossroads are chocka block with cars trying to go in all directions, and you take your life in your hands every time you try to cross the road, as they don´t stop at the pedestrian crossings either!
The country itself is very poor, and for us dirt cheap. It feels a little bit wrong just how cheap it is. I had a soup and sandwich for lunch in a good restaurant today for the equivalent of about 3 quid. And you can buy trousers, alpaca jumpers, tapestries etc. for between 4 and 8 pounds! It´s difficult not to go wild, and buy it all as it is all so beautiful! You can barter down the prices, but when you realise you are arguing over 20p, it sometimes seems a little pointless. They need that money more than we do!

Llama foetuses & other offerings

Yesterday we did a city tour that included Moon Valley - an area which used to be under water, and now the eroded soil feels and looks like you are on the moon! And the witches market. Where you can buy llama foetuses, among other things! Apparently the foetuses are buried in the foundations of a house, as an offering to Pachamama (mother earth). The builders won´t complete the work on a house if this is not done, as they believe the building will come crashing down! If you build an office block or the like you need a whole llama! The bigger the building, the bigger the llama! There are also other offerings that have to be buried with the foetus, such as sweets, and stone charms for happiness, money, long life etc.
So, we leave La Paz tomorrow and head down to the Salt Flats via a bus and a night train.
I will write again once we are in the next Bolivian town, as the next week ish will be quite remote.
Hugs to all. x