Ok this may be one of the funniest, weirdest, and most awkward events I have ever attended. Probably not worse Then when my friends and I accidentally ended up in a locals only dance club in Nepal, but very close.
We were told to meet outside the San Francisco plaza where our guide would get us. To get to the bus we had to cross the road there. The lady was rushing so much that as she tried to help us down the stairs my mom tripped and hurt her ankle. More on this will come later.
One by one we picked up more people as we are stuffed into a run down and beaten up bus. It looked as if it was picked from the bus graveyard. The wrestling would take place in El Alto, where we ended up the day before. As we made our way up the hill to 4100m it sounded as if our bus would die.
Finally we were there. One of the leaders explained to follow him in because we were not in the safest of towns. I told him how we spent the entire day there previously without a tour and he looked shocked. Oh well! We had a blast and danced forever and all was well.
Then we entered the arena. We had our tickets which included two bathroom trips, yes we had bathroom tickets, a snack, souvenir, and entrance. As we made out way through the dirty entrance and past the smelly toilets we could see the ring!
In the middle of a worm down gymnasium a big wrestling ring was set up. To the left were bleachers that were packed with locals eating popcorn and cotton candy. Around the ring two rows of picnic chairs were set up for the tourists. It felt as if we were put their not as a privilege but more of entertainment and to be gawked at by the locals.
The show became and consisted of different wrestles dressed up in ridiculous costumes fighting each other.
The real fun began when the cholitas dressed in their beautiful shawls, shirts, and hats came out. They would parade around getting the crowd amped up and excited. Next they would remove their jewelry and shawls and begin to fight.
These chicks don't play fair and have some massive balls. Nothing was held back as girls fought girls, guys, multiple guys, and guys and girls. It was a free for all.
During the 8 different matches you could tell who the local favorites were. When someone was cheating or doing something they didn't like oranges, bananas, and all different trash came pelting down from the audience.
One cholitas pulled out a volunteer. This tourist was so excited. After she danced with him in the ring everyone was cheering. He made his way through the tourist crowd running our the ring receiving high fives before proceeding into the local stands to do the same!
But the finale took the prize. The lights were shut off and in entered two witch doctors guided by men masked in black cloaks carrying torches. The one spotted me and walked over and shoved something in my face. It didn't register at first what is was. He turned it around and showed me the bloody side!
Omg it's a decapitated donkey head!!!!! And it's an inch from my face. I held my breath and tried to seem unphased to not get a rise from the locals. The next guy could not contain himself though. As the witch doctor showed him the head he jumped back knocking over chairs and ran. The locals Immediately began to cheer and laugh.
The final match continued forever as these two witch doctors used a donkey head, llama head, and guts to beat up the two competitors. They were stuffing the intensities in their face and using them to strangle them. I thought I had seen it all before this show but I was clearly wrong.
Every now and then intestines would fly into the audience and r tourists would scream and run. By this point more than have of the tourists had retreated out of their seats and hid in the back or left to go outside.
Fake blood gushed from many of the characters and local kids ran down with tissues to help them out. This was Bolivias WWF wrestling at its finest.
The show ended when every character from the entire show came out and dog piled the witch doctors. Even a tourist took the opportunity to run and jump on the very top of the pile.
Disturbed, confused, and entertained we boarded the bus back to town. We took in one of the look out points, funny because it was one of the ones we looked for the day before and never found.
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