Rumble Through the Glass

As our bus approached the main street of La Paz we noticed that the city had grown in population over the last few days. Large crowds of campesinos (rural villagers) had descended on the business area and filled the main square not far from our small hotel. Once we checked in we decided to wander through the streets. Villagers from all over the country had arrived to demonstrate for land rights. Crowds gathered at every large open space to listen to speeches blaring from hand held megaphones. As a result the streets became filled with military and police in an array of different uniforms. We headed to a small restaurant and sat in the window watching the melee. Suddenly a group of protesters came running by, followed minutes later by marching automatic weapon armed security. We drank Singani and beer all afternoon, avoiding the tear gas haze and craziness outside the glass. Eventually we began to wonder how we would safely make it back to our hotel.  La Paz, Bolivia