Mercado Negro & Upper Market Areas

Lonely Planet review

The area from Plaza Pérez Velasco to the cemetery has a largely indigenous population and is always bustling. Traffic honks through the narrow cobbled streets, cholitas (Quechua or Aymará women) rush about making purchases and pedestrians jostle with sidewalk vendors.

The Mercado Negro (Black Market), roughly within the area around Max Parades, Tumusla, Tamayo and Santa Cruz, is the place where undocumented merchandise, much of it bootlegged, is sold along with just about everything else.

In the case of CDs and DVDs, vendors make no effort to conceal the origins: the covers are merely photocopied. It also stocks imitation designer clothing and inexpensive camera film. The best place for electronics is along Eloy Salmón. Be especially careful when wandering around this part of town: it's notorious for rip-offs and light fingers.