17.04.08 Farty towels

Bolivia is a topsy-turvy place: the president (Morales) is leader of a federation of coca farmers, although the UN classifies coca as equivalent to heroin or crack; here, coca is sold in the supermarket as a relaxing tea rather than a refined illegal stimulant; it democratically elected a man as president (Banzer), although he had proved himself to be a murderous dictator in a previous go at the job; it’s filthy rich in raw materials yet the poorest country on the continent; you can’t build a five-star hotel without a llama fetus under the foundations; it has a navy yet has been landlocked for 125 years; it has several peaks more than 6,000 metres high, yet can not claim one single piste; the most downtrodden members of society wear bowler hats; is it any wonder the loos don’t behave as you expect? No matter how decorously you sit down, the inflatable seats give off a long, slow release of air, and our small loo even makes a noise that can only be described as fart-like when it is flushed.