Living la vida Loki

Serendipitously, I ended up in La Paz just in time for the festival of El Gran Poder - the biggest party of the year. It started at 6 in the morning and kept on going until midnight, with a massive parade, coordinated dancing routines, and drinking in the streets. But instead of going out, I was laid up in the hostel all day long, nursing my stomach bug and reading a Russian translation of The Razor´s Edge that I found in the book exchange downstairs. One of the best days so far.

I´ve been staying at the Loki La Paz - a party hostel that took over a respectable hotel in an old colonial building a few years back. There are a few of them on the gringo trail, and they know their market well - there´s a bar which is the focal point of social life; breakfast is served until 1; and leaving the building is basically optional. This one in particular is reminiscent of a Harry Potter movie because there are so many British kids on gap year running around.

So in between altitude weariness, stomach upsets, and sociable neighbors, I´ve gotten to know the hostel a whole lot better than La Paz. But I hear it´s a nice town.