VAMOS SOUTH: CARNIVAL!!!

So in order for us to make it for Carnival we had to take 35 hours of buses from Santiago, Chile to an old mining town called Oruro, Bolivia. We splurged for a bus with fully reclining seats so we could sleep. When we picked our seats on the bus Colleen thought we were getting the seats in the front so we could have a view, but she was mistaken and we were in the very back hanging out with the toilet. Despite the location of the seats it was a very pleasant journey!

The Carnival in Oruro is the second biggest in the world with 400,000 people attending, 20,000 dancers, and 10,000 band members. The parade goes on for 4 km and can last for 20 hours each day for three days. A large part of the parade is to commemorate "El Tio"(similar to the devil)who is the owner of all underground minerals and precious metals.

Chao Chile, hola Bolivia!

The day before the parade anyone can come out on the parade street and sell their goods, there were also people painting the streets and putting up decorations.

Party supplies! Fire works, foam spray, squirt guns, masks, confetti and loads of other fun stuff!

And the battle begins! Colleen was singled out and targeted by all of the younger kids attending the festival! Basically most gringos were soaked with water guns and foam spray.

Here I am getting a face full of foam spray. This was one of the more mellow attacks, at some points I couldn't even see because of the inches of foam on my face and in my eyes!

All of the groups had a different dance and outfit to celebrate a part of their culture, there were groups from all over Bolivia. The costumes were very detailed and amazing.