25 Jun, 2014 | Alex Walker

It was rumoured in May that David Beckham might emerge from his footballing retirement for Bolívar’s Copa Libertadores semi-final. With the club’s reigning oligarch Marcelo Claure later dismissing thi...

22 May, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

Wilmer Machaca explains the social significance of one of the most popular (yet marginalised) musical styles in the country. Cumbia is very popular in Latin America: originally from Colombia, vir...

22 May, 2014 | Mila Araoz

For the Clown Association of La Paz, the Show Goes on in the Unlikeliest of Places With additional research by Luis Velasco Schmiedl The bar El Acuario is hidden deep amongst the busy, traffic-...

21 May, 2014 | Shanti Das

Life Continues Inside the Women’s Prison of Obrajes Her name in English means ‘hope’—ironic and perhaps understandable, then, that her eyes betray her as lacking in her namesake. Nestled betwee...

29 Apr, 2014 | Laura Van Antwerp

Coming Soon to a Food Court Near You! Reflecting on traditional Bolivian cuisine, there are a few staples that immediately come to mind. The plato paceño features the unlikely combination of corn...

29 Apr, 2014 | Alan Pierce

The corral of llamas gazed haughtily at me. Their jaws chewed side-to-side, a short row of buckteeth jutting out to form an overall aura of aloof heartiness. I had come to this remote llama farm in th...

29 Apr, 2014 | Neil Suchak

Che Guevara’s Pizza Diaries En route from La Paz to El Alto you are likely to drive past a roadside statue of Ernesto Che Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary whose iconic face has come to adorn any...

29 Apr, 2014 | Ollie Vargas

The Precarious Prospects of La Paz’s Ageing Ice-Cream Men A ubiquitous sight across the plazas and pedestrian walkways of La Paz are the city’s army of ‘heladeros’ (ice-cream men). Mostly male an...

29 Apr, 2014 | Penelope Cartwright

The Unconventional (or Downright Cranky) Restaurateurs of La Paz Even before I learned that this issue of Bolivian Express would be food themed, my housemates were already overwhelming with me with...

27 Mar, 2014 | Alison Walsh

When water was worth fighting for In the year 2000, the streets of Cochabamba were turned into a battleground, as the city’s residents protested against the privatisation of their water supply, and...

27 Mar, 2014 | Laura Van Antwerp

THWACK! I knew the minute I felt it hit my backside. I has just experienced my first globo attack. I spun around to find myself face to face with a grinning boy, no older than ten years of age, c...

27 Mar, 2014 | Alison Walsh

Eduardo Abaroa: Man and Myth In the centre of the main square of the Sopocachi district of La Paz there sits a man. Perched on top of his plinth, he is a Bolivian hero, a symbol of national pride an...

08 Mar, 2014 | Wilmer Machaca

TORITOS A new form of transport has descended on El Alto. Toritos (‘little bulls’) or mototaxis, as they are otherwise known, have made it their aim to conquer the whole of this ever-expanding ci...

08 Mar, 2014 | Claudia Méndez

THE NEPTUNE The Neptune also known as the aguatero is one of the mightiest of La Paz’s police riot control water engines. It has a 2000 liter capacity and 2 power jet motors, yet this aquatic monste...

08 Mar, 2014 | Nia Haf

Seconds, Minutes, Hours It's rush hour in La Paz and hoards of people are making their way through the city. Queues of pedestrians begin to form as people wait to return to El Alto, some heading...