Situated in the city center of La Paz, in the district delimited
by Sagarnaga and Santa Cruz streets, the witches’ market is a true spectacle
you cannot miss.
On the colorful stalls, you can find
plenty of magical stones, llama fetus, mysterious powders, a multitude of
medicinal plants and herbs, dried frogs and toucan beaks and other objects
useful to cure, calm pains, practice magic rituals and connect with spirits of
the Aymara’s world…Or to make offerings to Pachamama (before to build a house,
it is necessary to make an offering, before to inaugurate a car, it is
necessary to make an offering, everything that you need, in this case, can be
found in the witches’ market).
You can also see yatiris, persons with round and dark hats who walk with bags filled
of coca leaves and predicting the future (to local people, not really to
strangers…).
Inducing both curiosity and complot, this market is a true
concentrate of Bolivia, marked by many mixtures and contrasts.