We had only 2 nights in La Paz – one day in fact. In the morning we went on another bus tour of the city and visited Moon Valley, a strange geographical structure resembling the surface of the moon. It was originally covered in water which has now drained away leaving weird land shapes. A solitary Peruvian flute player in Inca garb obligingly played eerie music and posed on peaks (for a tip). In the afternoon, some of us veged out but Lorraine, Daryl and I wandered around the markets,looking for treasures such as silver jewellery or dried alpaca fetuses (very lucky if placed in the foundations of your house)
We finally walked back to our hotel in time for dinner in the hotel restaurant/piano bar. Another good meal, much better than breakfast and the previous night’s café meal in the hotel where I had partaken of a cold hamburger. The night had been enlivened however by the waiter’s earnest attempts to remove the cork from a bottle of wine sealed with a screw top. After much sign language, we wrested the bottle from his grasp and demonstrated the new method.
Bolivia is a poor country whose citizens (like most of the Inca countries) wear a distinctive costume. All women wear hates of some sort but in Bolivia, their trademark is the bowler hat, borrowed from English men in the 19th century, a fashion which they felt was more attractive on women. These bowler hats, sitting atop bodies attired in very full skirt, supported by multiple petticoats are a sight to behold. The skirt can indicate the status the women: Thick skirts indicate married women, light but still full skirts indicate that the women is single and the showing of a petticoat can indicate availability.
We spent some time observing women in the markets, and wondering how they managed to keep their hats fixed on their heads. I badly wanted to buy a bowler for myself but accepted constructive advice that assured me I looked ridiculous. Tony and I modeled them in the airport shop. They only cost 14 US dollars. A fashion opportunity missed, I fear.
We flew from Bolivia to Santiago for a brief visit and city tour and I night in the lovely Intercontinental Hotel before ye another early departure on another flight to Rio. We had left the poorer parts of South America and affluence awaited us
2 comments:
Badly advised - I'm sure the bowler hat would have been very stylish! And if not, the kids would have had a ball...Never mind x
Oh well we accept the wisdom of those at hand - and I think my head was too big.
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