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It’s the 3rd day of the Carnival, no, not Rio, or Salvador, but downtown La Paz, and the energy and excitement and danger are just as full-on. In fact it’s been full-on from Uyuni, thru’ Potosi, Oduro and La Paz…the primary danger being getting soaked as packs of young, and not so young, roam the streets, armed to the teeth with water ‘pistols’, military design, star wars colours and shapes, awfully phallic, giant purple, bulbous headed, red, yellow and green shafts, the pumping action by grown-up boys, sheathed in their plastic condom coveralls, even Siggies greatest critics would have to believe this one! also the water bombs, 12 for 1 Boliviano (about 12 cents) luckily the general aim is shithouse but this also means more potential of getting hit by wild throws! <br />

On the third day they rested - well, sort of ...

Bill Shum
2006-03-24 20:49:31

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It’s the 3rd day of the Carnival, no, not Rio, or Salvador, but downtown La Paz, and the energy and excitement and danger are just as full-on. In fact it’s been full-on from Uyuni, thru’ Potosi, Oduro and La Paz…the primary danger being getting soaked as packs of young, and not so young, roam the streets, armed to the teeth with water ‘pistols’, military design, star wars colours and shapes, awfully phallic, giant purple, bulbous headed, red, yellow and green shafts, the pumping action by grown-up boys, sheathed in their plastic condom coveralls, even Siggies greatest critics would have to believe this one! also the water bombs, 12 for 1 Boliviano (about 12 cents) luckily the general aim is shithouse but this also means more potential of getting hit by wild throws!

All along the street, hundreds of enterprising old women with a few kids are filling water bombs like crazy from great buckets and vats they have dragged down in the early morning. Others are queuing up to buy more, family groups, all covered up with plastic ponchos, moving down the street, front attack, back-up, rearguard lookouts, but always vulnerable to the long lobbed bomb, chicas especially targeted, from across Odurothe street two chicas are suddenly bombarded by 5 or 6 guys with bombs, water pistols, really more like water RPGs, …but the chicas aren’t finished, as they innocently walk past a group of boys they suddenly whip out cans of santa snow and cake the boys heads and faces…and it seems that direct retaliation is not permitted, in fact, the idea, if you are hit, is to try and ignore it…some unfortunate stoic is trying his best to ignore a veritable water cannon pumping gallons of cold water down his neck, better to cut and run!…so far I’ve escaped attention, one of the benefits of being a tourista maybe…except copping a bucketful from a truck full of kids coming into Oduro on the bike, and later being chased by a bunch of chicas around the ...