Dark sights in La Paz
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San Pedro Prison
San Pedro's fame is that it functions unlike any other prison: there are no guards inside, the inmates don't wear uniforms, there are no curfews and the prisoners have to work to be able to pay for their cells, which they have to rent or buy depending on their financial situation. This infamous prison is now quite a hard place to visit.
Inside, it's like a little town. The prison is divided into eight areas. There is a clear hierarchy between the different areas, and some are richer, brighter and (supposedly) safer, while others are dark, dingy and rough. During the day, the violence is contained and prisoners play cards, football and do their work, but life gets rough at…
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La Paz Cemetery
As in most Latin American cemeteries, bodies are buried in the traditional Western way or placed in a crypt. Within 10 years, they are disinterred and cremated. After cremation, families purchase or rent glass-fronted spaces in the cemetery walls for the ashes, affix plaques and mementos of the deceased and place flowers behind the glass door.
Each wall has hundreds of these doors, and some of the walls have expanded upward to such an extent that they resemble three- or four-story apartment blocks. As a result the cemetery is an active place, full of people passing through to visit relatives.
There are also huge family mausoleums, as well as sections dedicated to mine wor…
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