1000 Places to See Before You Die 7 - The Witches Market in La Paz, Bolivia
When I was recently in Bolivia one of the sights worth seeing mentioned in my guide book was the local Witches Market or Mercado de Hechicería. I decided to stop by as I was spendid the day wandering the city. The book said it would be a "real" witches market with magic items, such as dried up llama fetuses, for sale. I took this with a grain of salt and expected a touristy type affair. But I am glad to say that I was partly mistaken. There were indeed dried up llama fetuses for sale, next to more conventional souvenirs. Not speaking Spanish myself, I found it a little hard to do more than browse the stalls, but I did mange to buy two small statuettes of a llama and an owl to commemorate my trip to the Witches Market. When the lady wrapped them up for me, she put "scarves" of bright colored wool around their necks. I have no idea what that was about, but I am going to assume that the statuettes are a good influence in my house. Heading to the market. I didn'...