Like Cochabamba, La Paz is a huge open air market. Most of the streets are lined with stalls and locals selling everything from light bulbs to mobile phones. Although there are many agencies offering one to ten-day tours, I fill my three days in La Paz wandering up and down the colourful streets and soaking up the atmosphere. It's not a pretty city. The squares are drab and there's a definite lack of things to see.
On my wanderings I take in the 'Witchcraft Market' (Mercado de Hechicería), complete with llama foetuses on Calle Santa Cruz/Linares, and the Coca Museum, which chronicles the history of the Coca leaf, very much a part of everyday life here.
I also visit the San Pedro prison, made famous by the Rusty Young's book, 'Marching Powder', that everyone seems to have read except me. In his book he talks about the open corruptness of the prison where rich criminals have privileged lifestyles while the poorer ones sleep in the corridors. In my guidebook it mentions that if you turn up on Thursday morning with your passport you may be lucky and allowed in on an unofficial tour. Thursday is visiting day and the prison guards are not up for being sweet-talked. It's a bizarre place even from the outside. From the doorway I can see the prisoners inside staring out at me.
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