Part Two: La Paz, Bolivia

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Day Six

Had a better night, and slept off some more jet-lag. After a good morning’s meditation with some nice chanting, I felt confident of a peaceful day ahead. Mathuresh and myself along with my six-year old son Nitai hit the markets a little earlier today, and armed with shopping list, seemed to do a more efficient job of collecting our supplies. I was surprised at just how few items were unavailable here in La Paz. What we couldn’t get at the markets we could find at the huge supermarket opposite the Convention centre. We even found some Lebanese rosewater for tonight’s gulab jamuns! I enjoyed wandering the hilly cobblestoned streets.

Discovered the biggest pumpkins I had ever seen! The jolly local vendor was happy to pose for my picture, and didn't even ask me for a donation! My son Nitai got into the mood, and harrassed a local cholita to lend him her hat and pose for this photo. At first she refused, but Nitai charmed her with his very good Spanish, and she finally gave in. The episode cost us the equivalent of fifty cents, not a hefty sum, and well worth it, don't you think?

I got the vendor to cut a giant slice of the best looking pumpkin and purchased it for tonight’s delicious dal soup. The flesh inside was bright orange and fragrant. Bliss! I feel so at home in produce markets, wherever in the world I happen to be. Shopping for fresh produce and discovering the occasional new ingredient is one of life's simple pleasures. Fresh peas from the pod were everywhere, so we bought a few kilos for tonight's class. Once again we were rushed, so we moved on to another, more bustling section of the market.

Selected the freshest red, green and yellow locoto chilies for our fiery chili relish, and a bag of the biggest, juiciest choclo (corn) for our yogurt-based east-west raita salad. Andean countries like Bolivia and Peru are famous for their corn – so many varieties! Before lunch we made a quick trip to the Brazilian Embassy and left my passport for a visa, and got my Yellow fever injection for next week’s Brazil adventure.

Did a bit more wandering and snapped a few nice pictures of colourful locals and their produce with my new Canon camera.This old gentleman was in a sort of merry trance as he played a wonderful ancient melody on his ricketty old violin. We stopped for a simple lunch of soup and pasta at the Vaikuntha Hare Krishna restaurant. Tasted the famous ubiquitous Bolivian fresh condiment called llajua (pronounced ‘yawha’) made from fresh uncooked tomato, finely chopped hot red locoto chilies, salt and fresh herbs. A ripper!

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