At 6:00 am the bus started for Oruro – 10:00 am arrival. Our hotel Oruro Inn is located not far from the new bus terminal, between unfinished houses and streets, just outside the city. Here in Oruro, Carnival is celebrated in a big way. Practically 3 days continuously. We took a cab into the city and watched the spectacle from 13:00 to 21:30. We sat on a grandstand on the front bench. Lots of brass bands, fantastic colorful costumes and great dancing! There are only foot or dance groups and bands in the parade. Some girls wear boots with dangerously high heels. Many costumes look insanely heavy. Sometimes there are groups of 100 or more people jumping back and forth in formation. During breaks, the kids splash each other with foam cans. Sometimes even innocent bystanders get splashed!
Many vendors come by the stands with cotton candy, beer, cake, selfie sticks, etc. We sat with very nice, fun Bolivians. Reiner and his “neighbor” bought each other a beer.
Today’s parade is scheduled to continue until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Unfortunately, we got a little cold and after getting up early we were tired. A cab brought us back to the hotel.
Silke