Christ of the Concords

Inspired by the sight of people on the street tucking into mid-morning bowls of quinoa, we made our own breakfast of the 'ancient grain' topped with a soft boiled egg, served with avocado and bread.

Superbreakfast

This meal set us up for a walk to the east end of town to the hill Cerro San Pedro, which is surmounted by a large statue of Jesus Christ, his arms outstretched over the city, mimicking the pose of Christ the Redeemer, the statue in Rio de Janeiro. This statue is 34.2 metres tall, outstripping the 30m Brazilian version.

Cristo de la Concordia

A teleférico (cable car) took us to the top of the hill because, as many signs around the base were at pains to warn us of the potentially dangerous 'delinquents' that apparently loiter around the steps that climb the hillside.

Tourism. This is how it's done

On Sundays there is a mass held at the base of the statue, but the top of the hill seemed to be a draw for locals and tourists alike every day of the week.

Taking in the view

Despite the grave warnings, we took a walk along the Circuito de Bolivia around the base of the hill, as far as the open-air theatre and Laguna Alalay.

Laguna Alalay

Special areas of town seem to be dedicated to certain things. Near our apartment, there is an area in which every shop is a car mechanic's. In town, watch repairmen line the pavement of a particular street, apparently unaware of each other. Where we walked today seemed to have a high concentration of ice cream and cake vendors. Having no need of car or watch repair, we indulged in some most welcome ice cream at the hottest part of the day.

Wearing bowler hats. How Bolivians roll

Close to our apartment is the former matadero, or slaughterhouse, which has thankfully been repurposed as an arts and cultural space, punningly named mARTadero. As with many such cultural spaces, their influence bleeds into the surrounding neighbourhood and we passed many colourful murals.

Bolivian motifs

We dropped by to enquire about an upcoming theatre event - a disconcertingly Spanish absurdist performance - but ended up enjoying a selection of weird, sardonic and philosophical comics from South American countries.

Dinner was 'berenjena rellena' - a favourite of mine when aubergines are abundant - stuffed with cheese, onion, tomato and coriander, served alongside rice.

Is there nothing that cannot be stuffed inside an aubergine?