Human Sacrifice in Bolivia?

Bolivia has some of the nicest hiking in the world. There are plenty of wide open spaces and sights that will give even the most experienced hikers a run for their money.

But, beyond Bolivia’s mountain tops there is a lot about the country that make it a fascinating place.

Though I wouldn’t call myself a big traveler I did leave the US for 5-months looking for an adventure. It turns out that you can go to Bolivia for 5 days and have more of an adventure than you could imagine.

Let me take you through it.

Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, is filled with great food, cheap stays, and parties that will go to the break of down. But, it also has some things going for it that make it one of the most strangest places in the world, especially to the American eye.

For example, they have a prison that is run by the inmates. The San Pedro Prison is prison that probably won’t fly in the US. The inmates that are locked away there also run the prison. Similar to Sona Prison in the 3rd season of Prison Break, there is a internal government of sorts that run the San Pedro Prison. People pay for their food, housing, and clothes. If you don’t have any money well then you’re probably eating scrapes and sleeping on the ground under the stars. Also, prisoners can have their family member move into the prison with them.

The prison is also home to a massive cocaine manufacturing plantation. Yes, cocaine being made and sold in a prison. When tourists where allowed to go on tours of the prison they offered ‘sugar’ (code word for cocaine) at the end of their tour, just a little pick me up after a long day of taking pictures.

After leaving the prison our tour-guide started to explain the significance of Incan religion and culture in Bolivia.

He told us that Incan’s believe in a earth goddess called Pachamama (from what I picked up she is similar to that of mother nature). She has complete control of all the land and everything that touches that land from the crops people harvest and the homes we erect.

Like most deities she requires some sort of acknowledgement or recognition for her power and in the case of erecting a building, sacrifice.

To earn Pachamama’s permission and ensure good health of your building you have to provide her with a sacrifice of some sort. Each sacrifice needs to be built into the buildings foundation, usually being covered in cement at the bottom of the building. The bigger the building the bigger the sacrifice.

For a small house or shop its recommended that you sacrifice the fetus of a lama that you can find at a witches shop in the city.

For a larger multi-family home or corporate building its recommended that you sacrifice an entire lama.

Then for a massive hotel or corporate building you are supposed to sacrifice a human. Yeah, you read that right, human sacrifice in Bolivia.

After casually mentioning that small detail our tour-guide shed a little light on the details of the ritual.

He said, usually the person that is sacrificed is a homeless man or a drunk that has no family or people that will miss him. He is usually baited into a night out filled with hookers, drugs, drinks, and food. Once he passes out from all the drinking and doinking a shaman comes in to give a ritual and he is buried alive in the concrete that is going to be used as the foundation. Welcome to the Holiday Inn, Bolivia. Built in 1997 on the body of Jon Doe, we have everything to accommodate you for your peaceful stay in our great city.

Anyway, if you wanted to experience something new — go to Bolivia.