Bolivia is our cheapest destination. The cheapest place to buy crap in Bolivia is the Mercado de Hechiceria. So where do you think all of your presents are from?

We arrived in La Paz ready to shop. In the witch´s market, along with the dried llamas (yes entire llamas) for luck and dried and glittered toads for who knows what, there were more practical and beautiful gifts. Seeing as my family is the primary audience for this journal and forthcoming gift recipients, I will say no more on this subject.

Other notables on La Paz: it is the world´s highest capital, yet is situated in a basin rather than a hill. It looks as though all the buildings have spilled from the rim towards the drain, where the tallest buildings are located. There are plenty of pigeons. There is a very good selection of vegetarian food. There is an entire museum dedicated to the coca plant (raw material for mate de coca and cocaine), where I learned that, while the coca leaf is illegal in the states, Coca-Cola is one of the world´s largest buyers of the plant and uses the leaf to flavor their world famous drink. Hmm.