Well first we couldn't get here & now we can't leave & in between we have had our camera pinched ! We have lost 700 photos from Rio de Janeiro to here.

La Paz , the world's highest capital city at 3660m is fascinating. we arrived at night & the sight from the rim of this giant chasm 5m across with the well-lit city filling the bowl & climbing the walls of the canyon was awesome.

Every day has been hot & clear although the temperature drops below freezing at night. Everywhere you walk is uphill ( although I know what goes up must come down ). The 3 snowy peaks of Illimani , 6400m are visible, even from our hotel room .

Almost 70% of the population are indian , & like in Ecuador , the women wear their bowler hats & voluminous skirts & petticoats & shawls. They line the streets everywhere selling their wears. In La Paz there are 36 street stalls per 1000 of population . They were outlawed during the recent dictatorship but are more prolific than ever now.

On our first day we went on a city tour which took us to the cathedral, government buildings, presidential palace, & a bullet-ridden police building . It seems the police & the army don't always see eye-to-eye here ! We also went further out of the city to some wonderful view-points & to the rich parts of the city , where government ministers, foreign diplomats etc live. Then out to the valley of the moon. They have one here to. It has some very pretty rock formations. We visited 4 small museums & went to the Witches Market where they sell amongst other things llama foetuses to cure ills & protect from evil spirits. They ranged in size from 2 inches to 2 feet , the larger ones already covered in fur. Weird ! It was a really good tour & we took loads of photos .

I thought Arsenal played Man U on Sunday so booked a day-trip for Saturday. Oops ! Needless to say I had to go on my own ! I went to Tiahuanaco. The Tiahuanaco was a pre-Incan civilisation that existed from 1500BC to 1100AD & was centred in Bolivia. It existed for a much longer time than the Incas , who were around for barely a century , but little is known about these people.

There were a few megaliths , the highest over 7m & weighing 175tons which is thought to represent Pachamama , Mother Earth. They are all carved with pictures of animal gods & astronomical symbols. The centre point of the ruins is a pyramid structure which was a temple on 3 levels. The ground level has a huge sun-gate , through which the sun shone at solstices & equinoxes.

There were 2 excellent museums housing ceramics found on & around the site & many mis-shaped skulls. They used to deform the shape of the skull to make them pointedby applying pressure & binding them from an early age. Only those in the higher classes though. Apparently it was thought to be more attractive & they believed it increased their intelligence. Photos were not permitted inside but I took loads outside.

Arsenal beat Man U !

Saturday was a really good day to be in La Paz , ( or so we thought ) as it is the largest festival day of the year , Gran Poder. Bolivia's equivalent of Brazil's carnival. From 8am till midnight there were processions & dancing in the street , accompanied by many marching bands. The costumes were amazing from head to toe &there were 100's of 1000's who took part. It was a spectacular event that we felt very priviliged to witness for about 4 hours, late afternoon & dusk We took loads of photos.

We left at about 7pm to return to our hotel & part-way back we stopped so I could put some fruit I had jusy purchased in the day-pack Ady was carrying on his back. The front zip was undone & the camera was gone. It still hurts !

The worst thing was losing all the photos which are irreplaceable. The second worst was the time spent as a result of it. We spent almost all of Sunday locating the Policia Turistica ( we were directed to 3 different places , 3rd time lucky ) , explaining to them in my best spanish & getting them to type a report for us for insurance purposes on their manual typewriter ( 1 word wrong & he had to start all over again !) & then searching for another camera.

We eventually found the same make & model on Monday packaged as a refurbished model ( were we buying back our original?) but we can't buy back the lost memories.

On monday we visited the excellent Coca museum in the city. It gave a very balanced & informative view of the role of the sacred coca-leaf in traditional societies in this country. It has been used in religious ceremonies for over 4000 years , traces of it having been found in mummies from that time. They have also used it as a recreational drug , like alcohol , & as a painkiller & it has high nutritional value. All in all it has been used in these countries with no real problems for thousands of years. The museum chronicled its use by the soft-drinks industry & the pharmaceutical industries & the growth of cocaine as an illicit drug. I could go on for ever !

Monday , Tuesday , Wednesday & today have seen more road blockages. It is impossible to get in & out of La Paz & most of Bolivia , unless you fly. We were meant to leave Tuesday but still here . Every day we are told la manana. The roads are full of indigenous & workers marching with flags & banners , letting off fire-crackers, protesting about the government's policieson the taxation of foreign export of hydrocarbons. I guess the people know how great the countries natural reserves are , how they have been exploited in the past & how little of the wealth filters down to them. The police keep a fairly low profile ,but are omnipresent , carry guns but only use tear-gas. This is the second country we have had to deal with our streaming eyes & noses ! There have apparently been over 800 similar protests in various parts of the country in the past 2 years. It has been an interesting few days watching & listening but now we just want to leave. Maybe tomorrow , manana !