- Most School Spirit
- Most Sprawling
- Most Fetid
- Strangest Place in the World to Find: kids sweatshirts from semi-pro German soccer teams, Rolling Stones records, 1950s party attire, retro headlights, transistor radios, color-block leather boots, 100 million years bc and other films on dvd for 75 cents, used textbooks, stolen cell phones, small dead animals in alcohol solutions, board games, 80s one-piece colorblock swimsuits, three-piece bathroom sets, military attire, fruits and vegetables, board games, hats, school uniforms, sheepskin rugs (not processed, just dried after having been shorn), tools, pan de laja, tires, etc., etc., etc.
- Life of the Party (that was Holly's life in Bolivia).
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Welcome to the Feria.
The pedestrian bridge (pasarela) in the center right background was our usual starting point after a 15 minute minibus ride up from La Paz, the northernmost end of which is sprawled directly in the background. The pasarela goes over the Ceja, a road/highway that serves as the unofficial dividing line between the adjacent urban sprawls of La Paz and El Alto. The southernmost end of La Paz, by contrast, is several miles further south, a couple thousand feet lower in elevation, a few degrees warmer per its denizens' claims, and much wealthier. The rest of the city, geographically and socioeconomically, is inbetween. More or less.
This staircase was about 200 ft high, and the climb a smart welcome to the 13,500 ft altiplano altitude of El Alto. El Alto and La Paz are Bolivia's second and third largest cities, respectively, with about 900,000 people each. El Alto just surpassed La Paz in population within the last year or so and is the fastest growing city in Latin America. (Santa Cruz, in the east, is the biggest city at about 1.3 million.)
The market covers a few dozen acres, I'd guess, and is open fully every Sunday and partially on Thursdays. The usual route (i.e. the one route we could follow without getting lost) took about 4-5 hours to complete, and I bet I made it up once every month or two.
a sampling of some of the general sectors/types of stands:
dairy products and ronaldo and beckham posters
retro/antique metalware, cds and dvds in the background 
the launching point: the famed clothing piles (all used, often from north american thrift stores)
shirts
nightgowns and bathrobes in the pile to the left; blankets, neckties, and swimsuits on the right
dude brought his rooster to the market.
other piles not shown here: high-waisted wool skirts, 70s polyester shirts, handbags/satchels, belts, shoes, kids clothes ... and yes, i bought (and brought back) items from each one.
typical almuerzo (lunch): meat, potatoes, soda, vegetables (optional, often ordered without)
after the clothes piles, this was the second leg
at the pink building in the upper left, we'd turn in to wander down the home depot-esque sector (including toilets, tape measures, piping), which in turn led to the electronics section
shoes (the pink pair in the foreground, purchased by me)
one of the shoes salesmen and sister/neighbor
when they're done for the day, they'll wrap up the shoes in that tarp and haul them back home.
the striped and patterned pairs in the upper right are the most ubiquitous (and, if i may, unluckiest) underwear prints sold in bolivia.
cholita sweater vendors against the andes
nevado huayna potosi
popsicles
plastics
"Pump up, air out!"
door locks, old coins, and other things metal
i bought that brown and orange dress from her.
the teal/white radio in the upper left got picked up, as did this black one on the right.
i don't think a single thing in this pile was functional. that didn't seem to be the point, though.
The Things-You-Plug-In Row
including but not limited to: electronics (dvd players, tvs of all sizes, telephones, e.g.) and small kitchen appliances (blenders, hot water pitchers). all new merchandise, but of dubious brand names.
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And on this day, we had to turn back at here, missing notably the Fancy Dress Shop and the English book stand, among other stops. I would say this is a woefully incomplete tour of the market, but in all truth there'd be no way to capture it all.
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It was the thrill of excavation at its modern-day best: plumbing the depths of a given pile, foraging through the rack in the back of the hole-in-the-wall stand, burrowing through boxes under the table to find that perfect prize at a piddling price, and all of it amidst the desultory sprawl of third-world urban development on a windswept plain at over two and a half miles high in a landlocked country. I miss this market terribly.
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