“Bizarre Foods” on the Travel Channel: Season 2, Bolivia

by Jamie Rhein on

Location: Bolivia, highest and most remote country of South America. Home of naturally freeze-dried potatoes, the Andes, llamas galore, and a fondness for cooking EVERY part that’s at all edible.

Episode Rating: 4 Sheep Testicles (out of 4) using Aaron’s system from last week’s recap.

Summary: My immediate response to this “Bizarre Foods” episode was “Yep, Bolivia is definitely on my go-to list.” In between relishing dishes of animal innards, host Andrew Zimmern traveled widely tossing in cultural tidbits between sampling mostly soups and dried meat. The significance of llamas, bowler hats, witch doctor rituals, women’s wrestling and a traditional feast rounded out Zimmern’s eatfest.

First stop, La Paz, the world’s highest capital. Beforehand shots of sheep and lambs prancing on Bolivia’s high altitude plateaus indicated dishes to come. Here, markets are places for wandering and sampling. Zimmern bought salted pickled pigs feet straight off. The lamb jerky, he liked, although the hair still on it gave him pause. He described it as “Hard as rock… it tastes like the pile of hay the lamb sleeps on.” Perhaps, skip that and try Mocochinchi, a drink also called booger juice. Zimmern said the light peanut version tasted like peanut milk.

The food markets reminded me of Asia where choices can be overwhelming. When deciding which stalls to dip into, Zimmern suggests looking at the cook and seeing which stall looks nice. That’s worked for me.

At La Casa de los Pacenos, Zimmern feasted on: 1. Lamb kidneys–“Wow! could have used a good soaking in milk;” 2. Tripe–“as clean as any I’ve tasted, one might think it’s cold slaw”; and 3. Penis soup. Bull penis soup to be exact. “Ya have to like the rich chunky texture. . . richness of bone marrow and texture of a pear.” Well, okay if you say so. Imagine the chopping–or not.

For llama brains with tongue, sauteed in garlic sauce, Zimmern went to an artsy looking restaurant, Pronto Delicatessen. “You could put the garlic sauce this guy makes on an old tennis shoe and it would taste good, ” Zimmern proclaimed. Frankly, I’d stick with the fish served with lime called Carpaccio de Ispi.

Other Bolivian food tasting locations:

Yapacani, Santa Cruz where at a small Mom and Pop type place, Pop’ll head out the back door to kill dinner. How about well cooked armadillo and feral pig? Achachira, a fruit similar to mangosteen looked delicious, and, according to Zimmern, is indeed.

Altiplano –Up in these mountains the signature dish is naturally freeze-dried potatoes, a process that takes several days and involves skinning them by walking on them with bare feet. The result isn’t pretty and tastes earthy, but they’ll keep for 25 years. I loved this segment the best. The family featured was very sweet–the type who calm jangling nerves just by being around them.

Lake Titicaca–At the feast of Altiplano, Zimmern waxed poetic about the Quinoa dumplings, trout and corn. The landscape was gorgeous–and the feast a worthwhile stop.

Unusual cultural detail: At the Witches Market in La Paz you can get your fortune-told with cocoa leaves and buy fixin’s for a llama fetus offering. Burning one of these brings good luck.

For more episode details, Andrew’s blog can fill you in.

Hugo Chavez: “I chew coca every day”

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said in a speech recently that he chews coca every day, and that his “hook up” is Bolivian president Evo Morales. Chavez reportedly said, “I chew coca every day in the morning… and look how I am,” before showing his bicep to his audience, the Venezuelan National Assembly.

Chewing coca leaves is common, and legal, for indigenous Peruvians and Bolivians, as a stimulant and for easing hunger pangs. In most of the world, coca is most commonly associated with the drug cocaine, which is made from coca. Evo Morales of Bolivia, however, once noted that “coca no es cocaína“-the coca leaf is not cocaine.

But Chavez said that Morales sends him coca paste, which is, according to the Miami Herald article, somewhere between coca leaves and cocaine, and is also highly addictive.

Some are arguing that Chavez’s coca paste admission means that he’s committed a crime:

”’If he is affirming that he consumes coca paste, he is admitting that he is consuming a substance that is illegal in Bolivia as well as Venezuela,’ said Hernán Maldonado, a Bolivian analyst living in Miami. ‘Plus, it’s an accusation that Evo Morales is a narco-trafficker’ for sending him the paste.”

Whole thing here.

More cocaine-related presidential shenanigans here.

More from Gadling on coca here.

Biking the world’s most dangerous road

by Jerry Guo on

A backpacker in Peru I met has been spending the last half year or so bumming through South America. He told many thrilling tales, but the one that really stood out being his biking trip down the world’s most dangerous road, right outside La Paz, Bolivia.

In the Youtube video below, you’ll see what appears to be a not-too-wide bike trail. In fact, buses and trucks routinely drive–and pass each other–on this so-called road. And you can share in the experience, though I highly recommend against riding in through on a bus.

Biking trips are routinely offered on the road, but be prepared to face rain, sleet, snow, mudslides, landslides, Yeti attacks, and oh death.

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How to end up in a La Paz prison (tour)

by Jerry Guo on

On my recent trip to Peru, an Australian who I was hiking the Inca trail with introduced me to the infamous San Pedro prison in downtown La Paz, Bolivia. For the uninitiated, this is a one-of-a-kind place–and the inspiration for the Panamanian prison on Fox Network’s Prison Break—where the prisoners are the ones running the show.

That’s because there are no guards inside the compound. Seems like the worst place to go for a tour, you would think. Turns out it’s one of the most coveted destinations in South America, though also one of the hardest to crack.

My friend Matt the Australian was there a few months ago, and ended up running out of time before he could arrange all the details. I’m hoping you’ll have better luck. Here’s how you do it.
First, don’t utter the words “tourist” or “tour.” And don’t bother hanging around the prison hoping to find a tour guide. That’s the easiest way to get scammed. What you’ll have to do is call the public phone in the prison (2324033), and tell them you want one of the prisoners to show you around (ask for George Redcloud if you can only speak English). Thursdays and Sundays are the usual visiting days, though bribing the guards (your “tour guide” will handle that) could mean visiting any morning.

On the day of your trip, don’t bring any valuables (duh), including a camera, and expect to pay 50-80 bolivars. As if you need to be psyched up even more, here’s a cool photo gallery of the place and here’s the bestseller, Marching Powder, that was written from the inside. Have fun!

Traveling where the dollar is strong

by Neil Woodburn on

If you’re earning a salary in US currency and are unlucky enough to spend it traveling internationally, you know the pain of the depreciating dollar.

The rest of the world has become frighteningly expensive as the dollar continues its slide. My recent trip to North Korea, for example, was $800 more expensive than it would have been two years ago for the mere fact that I had to pay for the tour in euros. Man, did this hurt! Unfortunately, such increased costs have become a factor in many travelers’ vacation plans as prohibitive prices continue to limit options.

But this isn’t the case everywhere. Certain parts of the world are still “on sale” due to local currencies that even weaker than the dollar.

Countries where dollars go the distance is a handy LA Times article that explores some of these remaining bargain locations–Vietnam, Morocco, Bolivia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Albania–and provides a fantastic short list of wonderful places that would still be worth going to even if they weren’t “on sale.”