Taking a rest from Spanish lessons on Saturday, we spent the day exploring a couple of different parts of the city. First up was the Mercado Campesino, an overwhelmingly huge market a bit further out from the city centre that sold pretty much anything anyone needed for daily living. Everything except for the electric razor Jeremy needed in order to replace the one he’d lost somewhere along the way. We visited the cemetery in the afternoon. I was under the impression that this would be like the one in Buenos Aires, full of historical graves of the rich and famous. However, this one was actually still very much in use, with recent and unused graves everywhere. It was the day before father’s day, so the place must have been especially busy, and we saw large numbers of people adding fresh flowers to tombs. We even came across a funeral service, complete with a mariachi band playing mariachi Simon & Garfunkle covers.
Graves
Ladders are available on demand for those wishing to tend to the more elevated graves
This kid (I assume) must have really been into Pokemon :(
Such a cute tomb
Later on, we walked uphill to the lookout point outside the Recoleta Museum, where we got a beer at the cafe while watching the sun set over the city. We decided to splurge on dinner after a week of cheap-ish eating, and headed over to supposedly one of the fanciest place in town - a (Bolivian-)French restaurant called La Taverne. Less than $50AUD bought us 2 huuuuuuuge steaks and a bottle of wine. Bolivia prices ftw.
View from the lookout
This steak was so huge I couldn't move for a good 12 hours after eating it
Jeremy's epic bacon-wrapped steak
We dragged our still-overstuffed asses out of bed early on Sunday morning in order to attend an excursion organised by our Spanish school. We were off to visit Tarabuco, an indigenous town a couple of hours away, where they happened to be holding their annual Pulljay festival. This is held at the end of the wet season to celebrate what I understand is the harvest and the historical defeat and possible consumption of some Spanish conquistadors. People from villages all around the region come to Tarabuco in their traditional clothing to sing, dance, flirt, and get absolutely smashed. We did none of these things, apart from maybe get a bit tipsy. Wandering around a super crowded and sun-exposed town became too much after a couple of hours, so when we spotted the beer tents, we headed straight for them in order to indulge in some super cheap beers ($6AUD for 2 litres) and delicious BBQ (such good grilled pork, my stomach still whines when I think about it).
Ponchos for sale
A stall selling the cute petticoats which are part of the traditional Bolivian cholita outfit. See here for an interesting article on cholitas. I think it's seriously cool how many Bolivian women choose to wear their traditional clothing in an authentic not-just-for-tourists way. Plus, the outfits are pretty cute (as in vaguely similar to clothes I actually wear when I'm not dressing like the slob I am).
Textiles for sale
These chickens for sale were so cheap I was tempted to buy them all, eat a couple of the unlucky ones, and set the rest free
So many colours!
Huge bags of coca leaves for sale
The crowd gathered in the main festival area
There was a tower strung with huge quantities of foodstuffs, including entire cow and sheep carcasses, that everyone danced around
Epic shoes
Epic hats
Youths in traditional garb enjoying the festivities
People playing interesting instruments
Detailed embroidery on clothes
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