La Paz

Mon 13th
We awoke and packed our things and moved to our new hostal which is twice as expensive but 5x nicer. Then we set out to try and explore the city. The carnival was in full flow with people squirting others with water and foam but mainly those that were also armed, so it was all quite 'fair'. We were 'got' by an old man in the back of a passing car and Celso gave him a right talking too! We visited the main square with the government buildings on two sides guarded by some very bored looking soldiers and military police. There was also a very grand cathedral with a fairly tame interior (for a Catholic church), there was a service going on but we sneaked in to take a look, but no photos. Tristan fed the pigeons in the square and became covered in them. We then made our way towards a museum that we wanted to visit, all the time trying to avoid the main area of the carnival. We only had to cross one main route filled with revelers in clown costumes and covered in foam and water, but we managed to avoid being badly soaked. The museum was closed so we decided to make our way back to the hostel along streets full of revelers and market places full of colourful fruits and veg, including over 200 types of potatoes! We found a street full of shops selling goods to be used as offerings to the gods. These offerings include young or aborted llama, some sort of sea urchin, various different plants that are burnt like insence and a huge number of ceramic figures each for a different type of prayer like health, money, safety for travellers or fertility.
Tristan guided us to a great Asian restaurant that he had found on a brochure, it had Japanese, Thai and Indian food. We had our 2nd fantastic meal in 2 days, Tristan had Sushi, Celso had a Thai soup type dish and I had Indian. La Paz seems full of contrast, terrible poverty and then great restaurants, adobe buildings with thatched rooves and modern high rises.