La Paz, Bolivia

A fabulous breakfast again, really like this Hostal and the family that run it. Ali and I are on a mission today to look at companies that offer mountain biking down the infamous Death road. This takes time as there are around 20 companies, we narrow down to 2 and finally book with Xtreme downhill for Thursday. They have good bikes, a safe record and we have met a couple of people who have used them with positive feedback. I also visit the offices of Boliviahop, to look at onward travel. Boliviahop offer a Hostal pick up, flexible hop on and hop off passes with key stops, so whilst they are a little more expensive they take the hassle out of the experience and I think I will feel safer. We stop by the Witches’ market locally known as El Mercado de las Brujas. The people of La Paz are very superstitious and will often consult a witch doctor on key life events such as a new home. The witch will create a personal offering, perhaps a small llama or dried llama foetus but it will always include sugar as a gift for Pacamama (Mother Earth). Rumour has it that larger construction projects such as hotels or office buildings will hire a witch doctor, but the sacrifice needs to be bigger. They will search for a homeless person (as they have no family to miss them) as part of the offering and drug them before burying in the construction’s foundations. This rumour has been supported by the discovery of bodies in ritual positions but I am not sure how common it would be now. Dinner tonight with the girls was amazing, an appetiser of local fruit including; custard apple, tuna and a weird fruit that tasted like a bean. For mains I had pork chop with pineapple salsa and mashed purple potatoes washed down with Malbec. The people of La Paz are right, the potatoes are delicious!