Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Though they are cheap and plentiful, the quality of the goods available in the street is not
particularlyhigh,andit'snotreallyaplacetocomelookingforsouvenirs.Likemostmarkets,
it's also a favourite haunt of thieves and pickpockets, and the area is best avoided completely
after dark.
FERIA DE ALASITAS: THE FESTIVAL OF ABUNDANCE
One of Bolivia's most unusual fiestas is the
Feria de Alasitas
, held in La Paz in the last
week of January, when large areas of the city are taken over by market stalls selling all
manner of miniature items. At the centre of the festivities is a diminutive figure of a mus-
tachioed man with rosy cheeks and a broad smile, dressed in a tiny suit and hat and laden
with foodstuffs and material possessions. This is the
Ekeko
, the household god of abund-
ance. A common sight in Paceño homes, the Ekeko is a demanding god who must be
kept happy with regular supplies of alcohol, cigarettes and
miniature gifts
. In return, he
watches over the household, ensuring happiness and prosperity and returning in kind any
gift he receives. At the fair each year, people buy objects they desire in miniature to give
to the Ekeko, thereby ensuring that the real thing will be theirs before the year is out. Ori-
ginally, gifts to the Ekeko would have been farm animals and foodstuffs, but in the modern
urban context of La Paz, miniature cars, houses, electrical goods, wads of dollar bills and
even airline tickets and university degrees are preferred to more traditional items.
Avenida 16 de Julio and around
In its southern reaches, a kilometre or so south of Plaza San Francisco, the busy, tree-lined
Prado becomes Avenida 16 de Julio and passes between the suburb of
San Pedro
to the east
and the more modern neighbourhood of
Miraflores
further to the west, before coming to an
abrupt end at Plaza del Estudiante. Directly south of here lies the middle-class suburb of
So-
pocachi
, the city's most pleasant residential area and home to many of its higher end restaur-
ants and nightlife spots - the centre is around the parallel avenues 6 de Agosto and 20 de
Octubre.
