A typical Monday morning in La Paz
6:23am: I push the snooze button to make the alarm stop as it keeps reminding me that I need to get up. I hold my breath as I get out of bed and jump in the shower, trying to ignore the cold.
6:42am: In the shower:
Scenario 1: No water.
Scenario 2: I electrocute myself.
Scenario 3: I wash myself with a capricious drizzle of water which alternates between boiling and freezing.
7:31am: I want to buy a marraqueta/juice for sustenance but I don’t have any change, which leads to me getting yelled at by the caserita. (But it’s better to be in that situation than to find yourself in the minibus with a 100-boliviano bill and not enough change.)
8:04am: I am trying to cross a road near the city centre.
8:08am: I am still trying to cross that road. I am reminded of the game with the frog crossing the road and reflect on my own mortality.
11:30am: Someone brought salteñas. As much as I love them, they fill me with dread as I know that I will be silently judged by all if I spill any of the soupy stew inside its crust.
Usually by this point, the day of a paceño gets easier, and the only challenge left is to make it to the next day. But it is not uncommon at all for people who live in small communities in the altiplano to commute eight hours per day (four hours each way), every day, to El Alto or La Paz in order to work or sell their merchandise before returning home and repeating the same routine the next day. This is just one example of the harshness of life on the altiplano. What seems challenging for one person is just how life is for others.
For Bolivia, 2019 is an election year, and this comes with its own series of tests. Bolivians will have to deal with protests and roadblocks that affect their daily routine and travel plans. The current government will need to prove that it deserves to be reelected, while the opposition needs to convince the nation that they are a better option. On the world stage, Bolivia is challenging the world with its interpretation of socialism, and the country will have to show that it is holding transparent elections and that democracy is being respected.
There are all sorts of challenges, from seemingly small ones like making rice at 3,600 metres above sea level to vital ones like fighting against the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, and everyone faces obstacles at some point to varying degrees of difficulty. Ultimately, these are part of what makes Bolivia such a unique and special place. After all, isn’t it true that ‘the greater the effort, the greater the glory?’
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LA CASA DE MARGARITA HOTEL BOUTIQUE
Description: Boutique hotel in the centre of Cochabamba, in a safe area known for its tranquility and proximity to a variety of cultural, touristic and commercial sites. With a modern-colonial design, five beautiful and comfy rooms, spacious common facilities with natural lighting and personalised attention, you will feel at home.
Address: Queru Queru, Pasaje Juan José Quezada #449. Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Website: www.lacasademargaritahb.com
Contact: +591 79955977 - +591 44019495
Photo: La Casa de Margarita Hotel Boutique
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DESTINATION
SORATA
Description: Sorata is a town in the department of La Paz located at the foot of the Illampu mountain, with a warm weather and beautiful landscapes. Its main attractions are the San Pedro cave, the San Cristóbal river, the Chilata lagoon and other scenic viewpoints in the area.
How to get there: Take a minibus from the general cemetery, it takes about 4 hours to reach the place, the road is safe and fully asphalted.
Photo: Mark Goble via Wikimedia Commons
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ACTIVITIES
URBAN RUSH
Description: If you want a dose of adrenaline this is for you! With seven years of experience, Urban Rush offers rappel of 50 metres and free falls of 20 metres in the heart of the city of La Paz. The activities comply with all the necessary safety standards. You can also try wearing superhero costumes, do you dare?
Address: Potosí street #920
Opening hours: 12:00-17:00
Photo: Courtesy of Urban Rush
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RESTAURANTS/BARS
SOL Y LUNA
Description: Sol Y Luna is a lovely rustic restaurant serving Bolivian, Dutch & Indian food. As well as La Paz’s biggest selection of Bolivian craft beers and a variety of cocktails. If you find yourself longing for different and exotic flavours, combined with a touch of Bolivia, this is the place to go. On Tuesday they have salsa night with live music.
Address: Murillo street #999, corner of Cochabamba street
Opening hours: 12:00-00:00
Photo: @a.a.cruises
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COFFEE SHOPS
ELEVATE COFFEE
Description: In a welcoming environment, the friendly owners carefully prepare each coffee drink using only the finest, best-tasting, specialty coffee that they roast onsite in small batches. It is the ideal place to enjoy an exquisite coffee while supporting Bolivia’s most dedicated and talented coffee producers.
Address: Pando avenue #1143. Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Opening hours: 9:00-12:30 and 16:00-21:00
Photo: Renata Lazcano
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SHOPPING
NARDA Bolivian Handmade
Description: NARDA is the first and only brand of footwear handmade in Bolivia. NARDA empowers local artisans and contributes to the national an international industry. The exclusive design, the first quality materials and high-level workmanship help create a luxury product, jewelry for the feet.
Website: www.narda.com.bo
Contact: +591 78989187
Photo: Michael Dunn Caceres
Photo: Nick Somers
The Rise of Male Beauty in Bolivia
In 2016, the Latin American male beauty market had an estimated worth of 10 billion USD, a figure that is expected to increase by a whopping 27.4 percent by 2021, according to Euromonitor International. As an emerging trend far too consequential to ignore, Bolivian Express takes a look at why male beauty is booming in Bolivia and Latin America.
Within the Latin American beauty industry, male grooming has the second fastest growth rate of all market sectors, only second to hair removal. Due to the growth of disposable income among the region’s emerging middle class, basic skin care products and specialised beauty goods are making an appearance for the first time in the male market. The sale of sunscreen and moisturisers, as well as traditionally ‘feminine’ goods, like facial scrubs, anti-aging soaps and hand and nail care, has increased among male consumers. Bolivian men are now embarking on more trips to spas and beauty salons and, according to Euromonitor International, the use of general beauty counters by men seeking cosmetic advice has risen by 30 percent. It seems that the young generations of Bolivians and Latin Americans are becoming more open, more experimental, and more concerned with the image they portray to the rest of the world. With the desire to investigate how these statistics compare with the people of La Paz, we spoke with various individuals living in and around the city.
En route to our first interview, we struck up a conversation with our taxi driver, Santiago. Even though the statistics would suggest that the average Bolivian bloke now sports manicured nails and threaded eyebrows, this 36-year-old’s take on male grooming seemed more conservative and, in fact, a little more realistic.
Santiago told us he takes care of his appearance by using styling gels in his hair and sun protection to look after his skin. But grooming, he emphasised, is only important to him in terms of its practicality. He isn’t interested in ‘nada más complicado.’
Other men around the city seemed to share in Santiago’s views and practices, such as 43-year-old Carlos Manuel, who said: ‘To me it’s a farce. Leave the salons and the beauty products to the women. As long as you’re clean, why does it matter?’
Although Carlos Manuel’s stance on the matter is a little more drastic, it seems to reflect the views of many Bolivian men from older generations. It is a generation of young Bolivians that is spearheading the change, leaving behind the older caballeros to enjoy their classic looks in peace.
Barbers in Miraflores and Sopocachi like Juan, who has been in the trade since 1964, have witnessed this change over the past five decades. ‘A true barber,’ says Juan, ‘cuts not just the hair but the beard also. Nowadays everyone does that part at home with their own razors,’ he explains. ‘Caring about your appearance is customary for young people today.’
Due to Juan’s traditional technique, his customers tend to be older men interested in the ‘look clásico.’ But since grooming habits, such as shaving, are more accessible to the masses with the advent of the disposable razor, it comes as no surprise that young men in Bolivia are keener to sport more experimental looks as the power—in this case the razor—is quite literally in their hands.
On the other ‘trendier’ barbershops, young barbers and customers make less of an effort to cling on to Juan’s beloved 'look clásico'. Carlos, a young barber originally from Colombia, explained that experimental hairstyles are becoming popular amongst young men in Latin America, whilst his older clients, just like Juan’s, are more conservative. According to Carlos, the internet has played an important role in changing this mindset. ‘Young people are starting to think for themselves, and with access to the internet and social media they’re exposed to more modern styles and ideas,’ he explains. ‘In places like Santa Cruz and Cochabamba you see this more often than in La Paz. Here we are more conservative, but there’s definitely a change taking place,’ Carlos said.
From flicking through hairstyle ‘catalogues’ and perusing barber shop windows, it’s clear that in addition to the internet and social media, celebrities are the true trendsetters in the industry. Images of Hollywood stars, like George Clooney and Brad Pitt, and of international footballers, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, often adorn local peluquerías. It seems Bolivians care a great deal about how these figures choose to style themselves and even more so about replicating those styles.
We even encountered a catalogue of hairstyles dedicated entirely to extranjeros, or foreigners. The owner of one of the barbershops we visited told us that the most popular look these days is ‘The Ronaldo’, and that it is common for youngsters to enter his shop brandishing an image of their favourite sports personality, requesting the same hairdo. A customer receiving a ‘reggae-inspired’ trim in the corner of the barbershop said that getting the same hairstyle as your idol is a way of identifying with them.
It doesn’t matter how bold the colour is, or how crazy the stenciled pattern is, young Bolivians love to follow trends set by people they admire. Even Santiago, our taxi driver, confirmed this. Five years ago, Santiago had dyed his hair blonde in honour of his favourite band, Marilyn. Others, however, take their aesthetic choices one step further and decide to tattoo the image of their favourite celebrities onto the sides of their heads beneath tightly trimmed hair, a style aptly named as the ‘Hair Tattoo.’
It seems that in La Paz, a wave of interest in male grooming and beauty is definitely taking shape. The statistics speak for themselves, but the people also confirm it. The older generations prefer to stick to what they know, but the youth delve into increasingly adventurous looks, predominantly through the experimentation of hairstyles. It’s cool to look cool, and with movie stars and footballers sporting modern looks, it comes as no surprise that these filter down to the masses. But even with regards to skin care, Bolivia’s male population is seeing a change in attitude and practice. As one young man asked: ‘If women can use beauty products, why can’t we?’ The times are changing and men are taking more ownership of the way they want the world to see them, moving away from stereotypes and from the ‘social norm’, towards a space where attitudes to male beauty are more liberal and diverse.
Photo: Courtesy of Killa Moonshine
The Andean Culture Distillery adds to an oaky offering
Two years after its debut in their Bolivian liquor market, Andean Culture Distillery co-owners Fernando Marin and Felipe Gonzales-Quint talk to Bolivian Express about spearheading one of South America’s few whiskey distilleries – particularly why it was that whiskey, of all spirits, had caught their eye and imagination.
‘Given the definition of whiskey as a grain distillate that may or may not be aged,’ Marin said, ‘and given the richness and variety of grains available to us that have never before been used in whiskey distillation, we saw an opportunity.’
Living amidst the Andean mountain range with access to such a broad assortment of grains indigenous to the region, Marin and his partner were able to create something never before seen in Bolivia, let alone South America, that not only added another flavor to the Bolivian palate, but that was also simultaneously able to show off the vibrancy of Andean culture. The co-directors hope to challenge the notion that ‘West is best’ by introducing new whiskey products into the market that contrast with the ever-popular Scotch, Irish and bourbon whiskeys.
‘Given the richness and variety of grains available to us that have never before been used in whiskey distillation, we saw an opportunity.’
—Fernando Marin
The creators of this Bolivian whiskey feel that they are able to offer something different. As well as providing the classic ingredients of corn, rye and wheat, the Andean landscape also offers quinoa, cañahua and amaranth, therefore creating a new experience in whiskey distillation. In addition to this innovative approach to the process, Marin and Gonzalez-Quint have made the decision to age their new whiskey using oak harvested from the eastern Santa Cruz region of Chiquitania. ‘We’re able to get a different profile because of our Chiquitania oak, as it tastes so different from French oak or American oak,’ Marin explained. ‘We’re able to create another character, another whiskey.’
The Andean Culture Distillery has encountered great success over the past two years selling its original, crystalline, non-aged Killa Andean Moonshine, a liquor inspired by the period of probation in 1930s America when amateur distillation was booming. This smooth liquor has since been making a name for itself in the bars and restaurants of La Paz, leading it to be lauded by many international master whiskey distillers.
Despite this success, however, the journey hasn’t all been plain sailing. Towards the end of 2017, the two partners found themselves in deep water thanks to a stockpiling issue that left them almost bankrupt. Initially, the business started from nothing and, over the months that it took to get going, simply grew and grew in success, scale and stock. By this point, the Andean Culture Distillery was storing its ingredients by the tonne on a large lot in a factory, which in a sudden turn of events became contaminated by one faulty hose. The partners were left with nothing, having lost all of their ingredients and a large portion of their profits. Over the following months, however, the business built its way back and was soon back on its feet once more, doing better than ever.
Discussing the setback, Marin said: ‘You’ll always encounter obstacles in life, but your successes simply depend on how you receive the blow. We’ve managed to come out winning, because the lessons we’ve learned from facing this obstacle have become our motivation.’
It seems this motivation has been put to good use as this month the Andean Culture Distillery will be releasing a new aged whiskey. This product will take on a darker, earthier colour than the popular Killa Andean Moonshine thanks to the ageing period it’s gone through resting in the casks made of Chiquitania wood. This new product was inspired by the South American fermented chicha beer of the Andes, which is derived from either maize or amaranth. Chicha is of pertinent social significance in Bolivia and South America, as a beverage that brings people in celebration at feasts and social gatherings and constitutes part of their social identity.
The new aged whiskey will take on a darker, earthier colour thanks to the ageing period it’s gone through resting in casks made of chiquitania wood.
Discussing chicha, Marin explained, ‘It is a corn-based beer that is, bit by bit, dying out and disappearing as a custom and a tradition.’ In order to sustain the popularity of this indigenous beverage, the owners of the Andean Culture Distillery have attempted to reinvent it in the form of a distilled whiskey.
In terms of the company’s aims and aspirations, it is clear that the Andean Culture Distillery has a promising future. Marin hopes to fulfil the company’s objective of creating a business that not only benefits its consumers but also its regional producers by collaborating with local businesses. The Andean Culture Distillery’s current success and growth is due, in part, to its collaboration with Innovación de Bebidas – the company behind the Bolivian spirit 1825 Vodka – which lets them use the its German-made distillery equipment.
Marin says he enjoys experimenting with the various flavours indigenous to and so indicative of Bolivia and South America, and potential collaborations with local Bolivian businesses to create products such as whiskey-flavoured chocolate and coffee beans aged in oak.
The impact that the Andean Culture Distillery is having on La Paz and Bolivia is not just that of commercial success, but also one of strong social significance as the company strives to develop a network of successful independent local businesses, from which we hope to see the whole of Bolivia benefit.
