¨Cholitas¨

Alyece Says:

So carnival is definitely not exclusive to Oruro, it´s fiesta time all over Bolivia right now... or perhaps the celebration is just following Erin and I? On Sunday La Paz was buzzing with the carnival fever; the streets were swarming with people in costumes and, of course, more spray foam, water guns, and waterballoons. However, besides Oruro, the typical carnivals here are a little, well... messier. According to the owner of our hotel, the La Paz celebration is "more about the water and foam assaults... just a bunch of people acting crazy." With our hotel conveniently located on the main street where the parade came through, we chose to watch the action above from the safety of our balcony... until our caucasion-ness, and likely my red hair, got us noticed and waterballoons came bombing toward us. (The view from our balcony) But we didn`t need carnival, we had something more interesting on the agenda on this particular day...
Every Sunday evening, something very unique happens in La Paz; it`s called "Cholitas Wrestling"... For those of you unfamiliar with this entertainment marvel, picture a fake WWF wrestling show with local Bolivians - men in hilarious costumes, women in traditional Bolivian clothing, amd midgets - all fighting each other. However in a smaller venue with a fraction of the budget, but ten times more ridiculousness. Erin and I were lucky enough to experience this special event.
We were picked up by the gringo tour bus in the late afternoon and drove up and just outside of the city. (We stopped at a lookout point to take some pictures of La Paz, which is actually a wicked looking city. It`s beautifully situated in the valley of these huge, rugged mountains and the brick houses and buildings climb all the way up the sides.) (Some local performers outside the wrestling gym)

Back to the action: Us tourists were provided with "VIP" ringside seats; I`m still trying to figure out whether this was a good thing or not. In keeping with the carnival spirit, there was no shortage of spray foam and water guns. The audience continued to drench the wrestlers, and when the wrestlers got their hands on the spray canisters, they got their revenge. White chemical foam ensued. (Gringos are prime foam targets - in the splash zone again!)

We were graced with a variety of characters and matches - singles and doubles, free-for-alls, and often the referee joined in. Some of the "fighters" were actually quite talented, but with a limited budget and safety resources, I`m pretty sure some of the men actually got hurt when they fell out of the ring onto the concrete... But they were troopers. (Spiderman and his little partner, what a team) (Bring it on!) (I`m pretty confident that the pink spandex enabled his victory) (Over the railing and into the arms of spray-happy gringos) (This woman kicked ass) (Nice shot) (The ref about to get thrown over the railing into the crowd)

I think one of the wrestlers, masculinely complete with a bird-beak mask, took an interest in Erin and I. After continually pointing at us, he was conveniently thrown out of the ring and over the baracade railing into our row. He landed in Erin`s lap, knocking her backwards (don`t worry, there were people behind to catch her), and he landed on the floor at my feet... at which point he felt it was appropriate to wrap his arms around my leg and rub his face against my ancle. I`m not sure how we got from point A to B, but later he stopped fighting briefly and kissed me, with foam on his face... mmm. (The evening view of La Paz on the way back into town)

There was nothing else La Paz could possibly offer that would top the wrestling experience, so we took off the next day. We headed for the town of Copacabana on Lake Titicaca (where we are now). (Our bus testing the limits of the connecting ferry) (Check out the camoflauged army dudes, bottom left)

In Copacabana, we decided to treat ourselves to one of the swankiest hostals in town (well, by our travel standards), called La Cupula. It`s a beautiful place that overlooks the lake and we have pretty suite with our own kitchen. And the restaurant has chocolate fondue. (The town of Copacabana) (View from our hostal) (Cooking in our kitchen... what`s for dinner? Beans)