El mercado

Warning: This page may be unsuitable for vegetarians

One of the greatest things about Bolivia is the abundance of fresh produce at the market. It makes you feel cheated by supermarkets because they can´t match these rock bottom prices, the quality of fresh food and the option to buy a meal there and then, including a massive lunch from 10am  (or, my personal favourite, freshly squeezed papaya juice.)The sales pitch of the cholita, crying

"compráme señorita, compráme" (buy from me, Madam!)

is the best kind of wake up call. So early on Thursday morning, we went straight to El Alto where Danny filled us in on the history of La Paz and its markets.

They have lots of ´exotic´ food here like Chrimoya (which is a fruit that "tastes like bubblegum but better"-Naomi), tunta (a white potato which is really watery because it grows near the river and absorbs lots of water) 

and tuño (a black potato that grows in really dry regions and has to be rehydrated several times before it´s edible-wouldn´t try this again even if you paid me).

The meat, however, looked far less appetising. One woman had a lot of fun shocking us with this monstrosity!:

Apparently, they use it in soup! As I mentioned in my previous blog, I wasn´t well this week. Seeing stuff like this didn´t help settle my stomach.

And no, I won´t be cooking with chicken feet any time soon...

As if that wasn´t dramatic enough, let me introduce you to the late-night Bolivian equivalent of the British drunken burger. Anticucho-or cow heart- is available on the streets from 8pm onwards. It´s cooked instantly in front of your eyes, like so:

(As featured in this amazing music video @~1:51: Naughty Boy - La La La ft. Sam Smith)

Having decided to pass on an early lunch, we journeyed down to Laderas, a chaotic outcrop of El Alto, which is the fastest growing area in the world and went from a population of 6000 to a million in a matter of decades. 

Such a sharp population increase meant cutting a lot of corners in terms of construction quality and sanitation.We didn´t have to ask whether or not this was a makeshift sewer; we could smell the answer

Moreover, it´s not just people who roam around here. There are lots of strays too.

But just because it is overcrowded and chaotic doesn´t mean it's anarchic. Despite having no police here, the community establishes and enforces its own rules. This hangman is a warning to intruders who dare to challenge their authority.

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