Cholita Wrestling

La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz is a huge city sprawling over various mountains. The buildings are all brick and give the city a russet hue.

Wandering by foot is challenging to due to the elevation and the hills. Traveling by car can be quite an adventure too.

I signed up at a tour agency to take a shared shuttle out to see Cholita wrestling. The driver didn't know the way and was asking the woman from the tour agency. Until she didn't know the way, and then we asked people on the street.

We took windy roads snaking up the mountainside through residential neighborhoods. At one point before heading down a particularly narrow alley our driver asked - "es seguro?" - which means "is it safe?" That's always reassuring.

The wrestling took place in a warehouse space. There was a beatup ring surrounded by four rows of fully occupied plastic chairs. Also concrete bleachers, which were 2/3 empty.

The Cholitas were 6 women in native dress - layered skirts, shawls, and bowler hats. Really impractical looking hats. They didn't cover ears or shade shun.

There were also some guy wrestlers, a villainous official, and a commentator who said "señoras y señores" every 3 seconds.

The wrestling was really amateur but entertaining enough. The storylines were simple - the good ladies always won. They employed a reoccurring gag where a villain would sneak up behind a heroine until the kids in the audience screamed and she turned around. Then another villain would sneak up from the other direction until the kids screamed again. Ad infinitum.

The showcase ended in chaos. The final fight took place in the middle of the audience. A middle-aged man with a beer belly removed his belt and began whipping one of the male wrestlers with it. All the locals in the bleachers were screaming out of their minds.

The gringo contingent spilled out into the street in confusion. Where are we? How do we get back?