Take off the suit, monkey-man!

Internet finally!!
So my last blog was actually years ago, before we hit the real rough patches and were actually complaining about our semi/cama (which was positively Westcoast-like) we made friends, we had a super nice tour director who called the asshole who ripped us off and yelled at him, and arrived in La Paz safe and sound. And that's where our problemos began. First order of business - don't stay at the Radisson. If you need more details I'll forward you my very poignant letter to the head of Radisson enterprise detailing our horrible experience there and how their rude and utterly unhelpful staff not only provided the worst customer service I have ever experienced but in fact put us in a precarious situation in which our safety and comfort was compromised. BUT we saw the best show I have ever seen in my life, and I doubt I will ever be as thoroughly entertained as I was that one night at the bolivia circus.

Abuhadba alakazam!

*it's actually just called the Abuhadba circus, and while it may not look like much from the outside (a small tent on the side of a busy thoroughfare) for a measly 5$ you can enter into an alternate universe comprised of part Bolivian freakshow, part exotic dancing, extraordinary talent, edge-of-your-seat thrills and an overall magical experience. If you are in La Paz and you do not see this circus, you have completely wasted your time, seeing as everything else sucks. Well, that may be a little harsh but we did get ripped off left right and center, scolded, yelled at and lied to and did not really enjoy our overall Bolivia experience (but more on that later). But this circus made it all worthwhile! I can't upload any pictures for the time being because my adapty thingy for the computer camera whatever is no longer with us, but when I replace it, the photos and mainly the videos will speak for themselves. Except they arent the best quality because i actually wasnt allowed to take pictures. if you are going to see the circus, stop reading now because it's so much better to have no idea what to expect and be completely blown away but if you never intend to set foot in la paz (and i dont blame you) then I'll recount a bit of our mystical experience in a very small circus tent.

So first of all, we had a bit of time to kill before the show and the ticket lady told us "do NOT walk around, VERY dangerous". So we basically moseyed around the tent where five women had set up stalls of every candy imaginable and behind them were tenst of chocolate-covered fruit kebobs and popcorn. When we finally entered the circus, the ticket-man asked us what the hell we were doing there, that there had never been any tourists at the show and didn't we know it was for ninos? Inside the tent there are about 200 seats including bleachers and plastic lawn chairs. there were maybe 15 people present, ourselves included. the first acts were acrobatic and were absolutely mind-boggling, it is so much more stressful to watch amateur bolivians do crazy routines on gigantic spinning metal thingies with no net than it is to watch trained professionals at the circque de soleil and is consequently way more impressive. The other thing that really struck us was that while the circus was aimed for children in many ways, all of the women were half-naked, doing very lewd dance moves and some of the routines included stripping. there was also a skit with a bunch of clowns having a singing competition wherein each contestant was shot if he sang off key. And the absolute most shocking and upsettimng thing was when the main clown asked two children to come up on stage and two adorable little kids ran up, but he told the second one to sit back down because he was too ugly. My heart broke for the poor little five year old who returned to his seat bawling, and wasn't even comforted by his parents (where were they anyways?) and received no apology from the clown, the show just went on! Anyways recounting all of the acts could not possibly convey how amazing the whole performance was, so i'll just say that the coolest one was when two guys motorcycled through a spinning metal globe (like in the simpsons movie) at the same time (and this was in a tiny little tent) and that it made La Paz worthwhile. the end.