Priority one today was to book a Cycle Tour on La Carretera de los Yungas, more commonly known as the World's Most Dangerous Road aka Death Road. Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking Tours had been recommended to us for having the best and safest equipment, also it's owned by a Kiwi, so it must be okay.

We were out the door early and even with the 15 minute walk from our hostel to Gravity, by the time we arrived, they were only just opening up. After a quick briefing of the tour, which we already knew, we signed up and tried on helmets and gloves for size. Next, we tried on the souvenir t-shirt that you would get at the end... if you survived.

With everything sorted for tomorrow, we went next door to the Swiss Cafe for some breakfast before the walking tour. We had an hour but the service was incredibly slow, one poor girl was working by herself doing the waitressing and the cooking. Maybe it's a Bolivian thing to take your time or perhaps they can only do one thing at a time, our breakfasts were served 10 minutes apart.

We made our way to Plaza San Pedro just in time for the 11am Red Cap Walking Tour. The second guide who turned up at the last minute looked familiar and it was only when she waved and took her red cap off we realised it was the girl from the Gravity office who signed us up for tomorrow.

The tour started with a warning and an explanation of the San Pedro prison which is adjacent to the Plaza. There are over 2,000 inmates and only 15 guards on a good day, there are less at the weekend. The prison is self regulating with elected representatives to keep things under control. There are so many prisoners because in Bolivia you are guilty until proven innocent and you might wait 3-5 years for a trial and this time doesn't count towards your sentence - that goes on top. It is described as being a little town of its own where prisoners have to pay to rent a cell or buy their own. Bs.50 a week will get you the worst shared cell, whereas Bs.5000 a week will get you a luxury cell with jacuzzi etc (mainly for drug lords and politicians). Some families even live in the prison. They even steal Internet access through WiFi from a neighbouring hotel. Inside there are lots of businesses, for the prisoners to earn money, ranging from cafes to drug manufacture. The best legal way to earn money is by having a small shops/cafes because Coca-Cola has exclusive deal for soft drink distribution in the prison and even supply branded tables, chairs and fridges. Allegedly, the purest cocaine in Bolivia is manufactured in the prison with some even making it outside the prison. The prison used to be a tourist attraction where you could pay to be guided through. There are still some tours being carried out but it's now illegal and highly dangerous - lots of rapes, beatings and robberies have happened for those naive enough to go in. Foreign Embassies are also very unsympathetic to victims of crime within the prison. The whole prison thing is very bizarre but it seems to work here.

After the prison talk/warning we started the actual walking tour and made our way to the open street market. We were spared the butcher section just in case it grossed people out and were taken through the colourful fruit and vegetable stalls instead. The stall owners are called "Caseras", as a way of buttering them up, and everybody has their own favorite and cannot go to shop with somebody else. Normally the choice of stall to go to is passed down the generation i.e. you go to the same Casera your mother goes to. They also act as your 'agony aunt' in times of need but gossip between themselves so everyone in the market knows your business.

We were then given an education on the "Cholitas", the ladies who wear the Charlie Chaplin hats. The hat indicates a lady's marital status - worn straight, the lady is married whilst it is worn slanting to the side by both widows or single girls. Girls will flirt by pulling up their big, frilly skirts to show off their calf. The bigger the calf muscle, the sexier according to the local men. The big skirts are to emphasize big hips which is considered good for child making. The hat is also one of the ways that a woman can show her wealth, they can spend over $1000 US to order their hat from Italy. These special hats are generally worn for festivities as a status symbol. The origin of the hat wearing started when people from England wore them while working in Bolivia, running mines etc. It was decided to order a batch for the Bolivian workers as a gift, but they thought their heads would be small because they were all short. Turned out they were too small for men to wear and after wondering what to do with them, they thought to see if the women liked them. It perched on top of head as they were still quite small even for women but they liked it and the fashion caught on.

Next up was the 'Witches Market' which sells all type of potions and even llama fetuses for ceremonies. There are potions for everything, like love potions for getting someone to like you when you're single to ones for 'paying you more attention' when you're married. The llama fetuses are used when houses are built. The llama along with other gifts are ceremoniously buried in the ground to appease Pachamama (Mother Earth) before starting the building project. There is an urban legend that if something bigger is built, like a shopping mall, then a human (normally homeless and drugged) is sacrificed instead of the llama.

We were taken past San Francisco church next but there was a huge exhibition of dance in the plaza so it was too noisy to stop. We moved on to the indoor Mercado Lanza where we were taken to the juice and fruit stalls for refreshments - it was a boiling hot day even if we were at high altitude and a Bs.7 mixed fruit juice with milk went down a treat. The market has 'roads' for everything and similar things are grouped together, from food to electronics to toiletries to flowers.

Afterwards we walked to Plaza Murillo with the government buildings and were given a bit of a history lesson. Bolivia holds the Guinness World Record for changing President most often. Many of them were actually killed by the people because they didn't like the way they ended up doing things. Bolivians love to protest too and seemingly about anything, too many traffic lights in the city is a good enough reason. Despite all the protests about bad policies, they also have short memories and will often re-elect the same bad leaders back into power. When Evo Morales came to power he wanted to make sweeping changes like having the town clock the wrong way around, to show they were in southern hemisphere. He also made official the flag of indigenous communities, with rainbow coloured squares which represents all 36 ethnic groups, which means Bolivia now has two flags representing the country.

We had to move on for more stories about Evo Morales because talking about him in bad light can have you slung in jail. We went to the President Hotel which had a platform at the rear giving great views over the San Francisco Plaza.

But let's get back to Evo Morales, the current president. He is the first indigenous president but he only speaks Spanish, he can't speak in Aymara or other indigenous language. He changed the name of the country, from what to what I can't remember, but it meant every single official document in the country, like ID cards and birth certificates, had to be re-issued. It was completely unnecessary but people accepted it because they got one extra public holiday per year. Interestingly, you can't be president for more than two terms but he argued his first term was in a country of another name and can now run in the October elections. He has also said lots of silly things on TV, for example after his travels around the world he declared publicly that Bolivia is the country with most Bolivians in it. He also was bemused that Bolivia was bigger than Germany but with a smaller population so he decided to heavily tax condoms and girls over 18 without children (subsequently reversed).

The tour finished there and after tipping the guides, we took a walk back to Illampu Street for the camping shops to see if could find cheap, small, warm sleeping bags. That combination doesn't seem to exist in this country.

We carried on to Calle Graneros, which is the street where the stall holders sell hapedashery. David needed to buy nylon cord to fix his watch. The 5 year old plastic strap snapped in half and needed to be tied back together.

We walked through Mercado Lanza on our way back to the hostel and stopped off for filled potatoes. It was more like a Scotch Egg though with meat instead of an egg in the middle. With a bit of hot sauce drizzled over the top, it was delicious.

After sorting out some bits and pieces at the hostel, we went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, La Cueva. For the first time in Bolivia the service was prompt and the food was excellent.