Two separate day trips took us to Tiwanaku, ancient pre-Inca ruins and Valle de la Luna, interesting rock formations. Neither was an unmissable event, but both fairly interesting.
The most interesting thing about La Paz which I don't have any photos of as you are not allowed is San Pedro Prison, right in the heart of La Paz, in a prime real estate area. If you haven't read Marching Powder by Rusty Young then I recommend it. He is an Australian backpacker who visited an inmate there in the 1990's. The corruption is just incredible. The 4 of us went on a tour there....believe it or not. You pay 400 bolivianos (£40) to the guards to get in and then tip 50 bolivianos to our guide and bodyguard. The prison is relatively safe during the day as women and children live in their with their criminal husbands / dads. When we first walked in you arrive in a courtyard with plenty of men hanging around waiting for their visitors as we went on a Sunday which is one of 2 visiting days. It seems like any other square in La Paz. Visiting the prison is illegal, but a lucrative business for the guards and the inmates who are guides. Inside the prison you (the inmates) pay for everything. You buy your own cell, food, TV - they even have cable. It is just like society on the outside, except possibly more corrupt. It is really sad seeing the children live there. They go to school on the outside but really allowing them in is the only way of keeping a family together as they can't afford to live in two separate houses. The whole system is so weird I'm still getting my head around it. We were there for a good few hours and I couldn't quite believe our guide was a criminal. He was quite charming really, and spoke good English. He was in there for drugs as are 80% of the inmates. Others include murderers and rapists, but I got the impression that they didn't last long. I was quite nervous before I went in, but it's definitely the best thing that I did in La Paz.
Great pics and really good write up of San Pedro. I read Marching Powder a while ago. It's a massively interesting book, so I'd love to visit La Paz one day to do the tour myself. Apparently there is going to be a Marching Powder film soon too.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Glad someone is reading it. The film should be a good one. But I wonder where they'll film it. It won't be inside as there is no way that the Bolivians would let a camera crew in there!
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