South by South America Tour – Bolivia Part 18
Friday, October 4, 2019
La Paz, Bolivia
Torn flyers in La Paz, Bolivia.
A mural in La Paz, Bolivia.
Two mini-charangos at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
A collection of hand-carved wooden recorders at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
A nutty guitar and sax at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
A squeeze box at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
A zoomed in photo of a photo of a star-shaped charango with five necks at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
A collection of vintage player piano rolls and a Victrola at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
A collection of rare Odeon and RCA Victor 78 rpm records of Bolivian music at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
The first of two spots I visited today was the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales, which was founded by the Bolivian musician Ernesto Cavour. The museum boasts over a dozen rooms containing hundreds of musical instruments from throughout Bolivia, from pan pipes to charangos to hand-carved wind and percussion instruments. There’s even a large collection of instruments from other countries, as well as miniature figurines of musical ensembles, collections of vinyl records, Victrolas, posters and much more. I highly recommend a visit to the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales to anyone—especially musicians—who visits La Paz. I had a bear of a time trying to fined the place, though, walking back and forth and around in circles for close to an hour, as it’s located down a hard-to-spot alley called Calle Jaen, in between Sucre and Indaburo streets.
More rare, vintage Bolivian vinyl at the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales in La Paz, Bolivia.
The Mi Teleferico aerial cable car system in La Paz, Bolivia.
A view of central La Paz from the Mi Teleferico aerial cable car system, Bolivia.
A mural in the Cementerio General in La Paz, Bolivia.
A distressed, weathered door to a crypt in the Cementerio General in La Paz, Bolivia.
A mural in the Cementerio General in La Paz, Bolivia.
Neglected graves in the Cementerio General in La Paz, Bolivia.
A mural in the Cementerio General in La Paz, Bolivia.
Street vendors just outside the Cementerio General in La Paz, Bolivia.
Next, I ascended above the city in the wonderful Mi Teleferico aerial cable car system and rode it a few stops west to the Cementerio General. Making my way from the station around a large block chock-full of street vendors, I entered the front gates near 5:00 pm. I was happy to make it through, as a sign there said the place closes at that time. Somehow, I managed to walk around for at least a half hour amongst the stacks of graves—which range in condition from new to old, dilapidated and neglected—to shoot photos of a few crypts, statues and murals that stood out from the masses. Considering the fact that the cemetery is 95% full and that the graves can only be rented for 10 years, after which the remains must be cremated and moved to a smaller spot to take up less space, I was surprised to see so many empty ones. Anyway, the Cementerio General is another must-see spot if you ever visit La Paz.
Words and photos ©2019 Arcane Candy.
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