Paint the Town

Bolivians clearly are very creative and love a bit of colour. And they are not limited in their canvas - anything can be painted for fun or education.

Houses and walls, let's face it, usually look nicer with a bit of paint

 

And you wouldn't want the neighbours not knowing they have a florist next door...

or a bus station...

let alone a beer warehouse!

There is no shortage of political painting. The elections are this year and every rock has the potential to be a banderol...

As do walls.

 

And Evo Morales is always a popular figure - here alongside other, lesser revolutionary figures (such as Che).

But then buses - how boring if they are left blank

Sometimes, however, the message is more important than just pretty colours. Here a taxi driver in Nazca dedicates his vehicle to the memory of his parents and brother - who, one hopes, didn't pass away due to his driving.

And streets - can't leave those unpainted now can we

Of course there's also your humble tag-artist and scribblers. But at least the guys here have finally thought of something worth saying!

 

Tomorrow I leave the sprawling city of Cochabamba - set in a fertile valley surrounded by green mountains this was a nice place to relax for a few days. And it saves me having to make a trip to Rio, since the mountain-top Jesus of Cochabamba is 44 centimetres taller than its better known inspiration. The Rio Christ is 33 meters tall - one meter for each year Jesus lived. But as the Cochabamb-inos say, Jesus actually lived 33 years and a bit.