Oruro Carnival
I took a 48 hour bus from BA to Oruro Bolivia so that I was in time for the Carnival. The bus journey was horrendous. The toilet stank day one and the bus was horrible not like the sleek Argentinian ones. The air conditioning did not work and so it was hot sticky and smelly. The only good thing was the bus was full of Peruvians and they were lovely so I had a good trip. I now have a few email addresses for my trip to Peru and some lovely invitations. Every so often we would scream at the conductor to clean the toilet. We would also beg the travellers not to use it (and I was in the middle of the bus well away from the loo.)Anyway the Carnival was well worth the trip and I was in a little town in the middle of nowhere. The streets were full of the procession and unlike Rio and Salvador this was reality and not for tourists. The first procession on the Saturday was one of devotion and thanks for the prosperity of the year and asking for a good year to follow. The dancers are divided into work communities and areas. The rattles often gave you as idea of the industry the dancer worked in e.g. Lorry rattles for the Lorry drivers and the farming communities carrying Llamas. After they have danced and pranced through the streets the worshippers all pile into the Cathedral to be blessed. It is amazing to watch and very moving as they were so extremely religious and many were in floods of tears and crawling up to the altar in devotion. It is a very odd parade with angels and demons. There is a strange mix between Catholic and Pagan beliefs. The groups of dancers were generally followed by a band. The band wore wonderful orange, Blue, Purple jackets and they danced as they played. The girls were wonderfully made up with sparkly cheeks as they swirled their short flared skirts to the crowds approval. Everything was so colourful:The girls were in blue, sparkly outfits, yellow, purple, green, red and wore very high heeled boots and you could see them limping home at the end of the day. The women wore longer skirts, more subdued colours like pinks, browns, greens and dainty high heeled bootees. The men wore big heavy devil type masks and circular skirts and heavy shoulder pads. They got very hot and looked exhausted at the end of the day and wringing in sweat!! They had the red cross on standby and people following with water to help the worshippers. The parade continued until midnight where there was a contest between the bands. Thomas (my friend from Argentina) and I gave that a miss as everyone was so drunk and I felt I was pushing my luck having my camera out so late. In the side streets wonderful smells of roasted beef, lamb sausages and many other foods were being sold and woolfed down greedily by visitors and dancers alike.
On Sunday’s parade the dancers were allowed to drink and party and boy did they do that!!! Throughout the parade we, poor tourists, got pelted with water bombs and shaving foam and water fights broke out with gigantic water guns.Very difficult when you are trying to take photos! I had a great time. The hotel we stayed in was disgusting but there were no beds to be had elsewhere so we had to grin and bear it. The owner was actually very nice but the toilets!! everyone pisses and poops and no flushing. Even in the streets everyone pisses where they are and the smell!!! rivers of piss in a hot country. There was a play of devotion on the last night but I had had enough. I must say that everyone was lovely and I felt reasonably safe although I kept clear of things at night because when people are drunk there is no knowing what might happen. The photos are great though and worth the effort.
I cleared out and missed the final day. I watched the bands coming down the streets in the morning and the parade was more normal with everyone wearing their Sunday clothes and a brown poncho over them. I moved to La Paz where I stayed in a former President’s house which had been transformed into a hostel and was nice clean and good showers. Viva La Difference!!
UNESCO names this carnival: “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.
