We had unfinished business in La Paz; we also had a flight to Cusco in four days, that we’d booked weeks ago. So though we were kind of ready to go to Peru early, that wasn’t happening. So we went back to La Paz to spend a few more days.

We’d hoped to rent our 18th floor condo off AirBnb again, but sadly it wasn’t available for the entire time we needed it. And, for the days it was available, the price had gone up to something more befitting of such a great place.

So we sighed heavily, and instead stayed at the hostel co-hosted at the restaurant we went to on my birthday, Rendezvous. It was fine, really, and after leaving cold as hell Titicaca, we were thrilled it had a heater!

Not This Again…

Our first order of business at Rendezvous was: clog the toilet. Christ, again? What is it with Bolivian toilets? So in the room, there was a big sheet of paper with all the rules and such of the hotel. And on there, in plain English, it said “flush the toilet paper.” No where else in Bolivia was this true, so I was mighty skeptical. And, the toilet seemed pretty dicey to begin with.

…What was that? Oh, you’re confused by the toilet paper thing? Right, yes that could be a surprise to hear! It was to me. It turns out you can’t willy-nilly flush toilet paper all over the world. I’d known this from Erika when she’d talked about that fact in other countries, before we started traveling. Still, it was extra surprising when you first, uh, come face to face with it

We were in Salento, Colombia, when we stayed at a hotel where you don’t flush the toilet paper.

“Really?” I asked Erika, knowing yes but still struggling to get there.

“Really,” she assured me.

“Are you sure?” I said, standing in the doorway of the restroom.

“Very sure,” she replied, amused.

“….how sure?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Anyway, all of Bolivia was this way, except apparently Rendezvous Hostel if you asked them. So I flushed it! And it clogged immediately! You asked for this!

Cholita Wrestling

Cholitas are the native women of Bolivia, known for their distinctive dress, consisting of bowler hats, vibrant colors, and large layered skirts. They, like the rest of the natives of Bolivia, have long had to deal with rampant discrimination. Partly as response to this, and to the oppression of women more generally, came the Cholita Wrestling.

The idea was to demonstrate that Cholitas were strong and tough, despite the hits and barbs they took. The Cholita Wrestling event itself is something of a mix between WWE and Mexico’s Lucha Libre. And it turns out, they put on two shows a week, which they sell heavily to tourists.

It’s a very inexpensive evening of entertainment: we paid about $26 USD for the two of us. For that, you get picked up by a tourist bus in your neighborhood, driven to the event, tickets to the event, ‘VIP’ seats, a drink and popcorn, and a souvenir.

We had a blast doing this. Especially me! I got as into it as possible, as it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun otherwise. Booing the one they set up as obvious villain, cheering the hero, yelling for all the throws and clotheslines and everything. The only downside of our show is that it was pretty much all foreign tourists. We’d read online that the locals come to the shows and get very into it, but I guess they go on the weekends.

First there were two men’s matches, with the combatants very much looking like Lucha Libre fighters, masks and all. Then the next two matches were all Cholitas, and they were far better. Better actors, more convincing hits and tackles, just so much more entertaining. All the fighters tried to engage the crowd some when they came out for their intros–one of the men gave a lap-dance to the woman on the other side of me, juuuuuust missing Erika. One of the Cholitas came out and danced with and gave a big kiss to a man that I’m pretty sure was there with his boyfriend. He was a good sport about it though: dancing with her, cheering heartily for her during the match, massaging her shoulders one time when she was thrown from the ring.

When it was over, they offered the opportunity to have your picture taken with some of the Cholitas. Erika jumped quickly into action, and we were the 2nd people to get pictures, before the whole crowd could descend upon the fighters.

Once Again to the Skies

There were two lines of the teleféricos we didn’t ride the last time we were in La Paz, so one afternoon we set out to check those boxes. We first took the yellow line up to its end, on the cliffs of El Alto, where there is a mirador to see the whole city. Locals on the other teleféricos previously had told us the yellow line had the best views of the city, and I think they’re right.

Afterwards, we came back down to the other end of the yellow, where it meets with the green line. From there, we took the green line to its end, out near the San Miguel area of La Paz.

This area seemed to be pretty well to do; nice looking apartments, nice cars, upscale shopping. But the area we flew over to get there, whooo… that was very well to do. Massive, glitzy houses on the hillsides with pools and beautiful landscaping. I’m sure they weren’t happy when Bolivia decided to build the teleférico line over their houses. Yes, in your back yard.

Our goal at the end of the green line–other than just riding the entire teleférico system–was to find a churro shop which we’d planned to go to on my birthday, but had to scrap since that day got pretty busy. Obviously, churros are delicious, but part of the reason I wanted to go on my birthday is because, last year, I hung out with our friends Brennan and Sarah on my birthday, and they bought me churros. This year, they were originally planning to meet us in Bolivia to travel together, but had to cancel that due to Sarah’s work. I wanted to shame them with pictures of us having churros without them.

We got out there, and even though Google said the place, Churrolocura, opened at 3, it wasn’t open. Sigh. This wasn’t anything new; Google’s information in other countries turns out to be pretty spotty at best. Nah, it’s just shitty. Sometimes Google would say a place was open at this hour, and we’d get there and it’d be closed. Forever closed. Like, never coming back.

Anyway, rather than just turn around and go back, we got coffee at a nearby cafe, and spent some time people watching.

And when we went to leave, the churro place was open! Oh delicious churros!

Punch Bug

I didn’t mention this last time, but La Paz, like Sucre before it, is full of VW Beetles. It was a fertile ground for rousing games of Punch Bug, and it seemed like every time one of us turned the other way, they were getting punched. In La Paz, we started a policy of Punch Bug truces during meals and coffee breaks, that we had to shake hands over. Place was intense.

So just imagine the crazy playing field that the teleféricos produced!

Floating over the city, looking in all the alleyways, and garages, and auto shops for all the Punch Bugs. And it turns out, it wasn’t just us, either.

When we were heading up the yellow line to El Alto and the mirador, Erika noticed the man across from us hit his son, and figured the kid must have been acting up. Moments later, she noticed him hit both of his kids. What the heck, she thought? Then, suddenly, she realized: they were playing punch bug too. She looked out the side of the cabin, found the beetle the man had spotted, and turned and hit me over it.

Oh it was on! It was hilarious for the next 15 minutes, our two groups playing the same game, and cheating off of each other. When we got off at the top, I wished him buena suerte in his continued punch bug assault of his brood.

What’s Next?

We were sad our time in Bolivia was coming to an end–we’d had a wonderful time in this country, and we’re so glad that we came; it wasn’t originally on our itinerary. It was easy on the budget, easy on the eyes, and overall just very comfortable.

Still, we were both ready to move on to Peru, and so we got up early Sunday morning, took one last scary taxi ride up the mountains to El Alto, and flew to Cusco to begin our time in our last South American country.

Thank you so much for reading! See you next time as we venture into Peru!