Women Wrestling & Black Market | Exploring El Alto

There are several activities to do during your stay in La Paz but one of the most unique, interesting and arguably entertaining ones is something very uncommon: Cholita Wrestling. Similar to the Lucha Libre in Mexico, this type of fighting show developed not long ago in the country with the aim to empower indigenous women (which call themselves Cholitas) through matches of wrestling either against other women or even men.

During our stay in the Bolivian capital we were offered numerous times the possibility to attend these matches (obviously as a part of a tour) but at our hostel they assured us that you could also see them yourself. And that’s how, on a sunny afternoon, we decide to give it a shot and head over to the biggest open-air “black” market of South America to see women wrestling.

Definitely not something you hear every day, uh?!

How to get there

All shows are not held in the lower part of La Paz but in the upper municipality of El Alto. Thankfully, both parts of the city (or municipalities, pretty much all locals interchange the words equally) are connected by a very modern cableway system which is a cheap (3 Bs.) and convenient way to move around.

Cableway line RED connecting La Paz & El Alto

If you’re staying in the touristy area of La Paz chances are that the most convenient cableway for you is going to be the RED line which you’ll have to take until the last station. Be aware that on Thursdays and Sundays, a huge area outside the cableway stations and several blocks away is transformed into the biggest “black” market in South America. At first it might seems dangerous and chaotic but if you keep an eye on your belongings it’s not a problem to roam around.

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS: We’ve heard plenty of stories that bringing a reflex camera in this area is super dangerous but in all honesty the both of us (with cameras) didn’t feel unsafe or threaten at any moment. And we did walk around a LOT!

When to go

Currently, the fights are on three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays (and on some rare occasions even on Saturdays) but there’s a huge difference between them.

The official “Cholita’s wrestling” day is on Sundays, this is when both locals and tourist join together to see this show; in other words, this is the day to go if you wanna see something truly local without too much tourism involvement.

That said, if you like us happen to be in La Paz on other days and can’t make it for Sunday, don’t you worry on Tuesdays and Thursdays you have the chance to see the show as well. Though, on these days the show is literally set up only for tourists (its called Cholita Wrestling VIP) in venues where you will only see tourists.

Street friends

Times & Location

On the Thursday we went, we had a super hard time to figure out the exact location of the wrestling as pretty much everybody knew only one thing: the wrestling happens in three different locations. It was only after a 20-block walk, a 15 Bs. taxi and another short walk we finally arrived at the correct venue. Here a detailed list to help you get the right one.

Centro Multifunctional de la Ceja – Also referred to as “Multifunctional” this small gym is located on the Av. Naciones Unidas just next to a pedestrian bridge that crosses over the highway beneath. You can walk here from the Cableway station and just ask to people for directions, easy to reach. Here matches are held every Sunday and start at 4-4.30pm.

Coliseo 12 Octubre – A bit further away but still reachable by foot (or you can take a taxi to here) this wrestling venue is located just next to the Coliseo 12 October on Av. Rodolfo Palenque junction with Calle 9. Here matches are held on every Sunday and start at 4-4.30pm; we’ve been told that in some occasions there are also some matches on Thursdays as well but make sure to check beforehand.

Salon de eventos “Havana” – At this location is where the VIP matches for tourists are held. This venue is a little hard to find but thankfully is not very far from the cableway station. It is a green building named “Havana” on Av. 16 Julio between Calle Catacorca and Alvarez Plata. Here matches are on Thursdays & Sundays and start 5.30pm. We were also told that if there are a good number of tourists booking, they also do shows on Tuesdays but we can’t say for sure.

Entrance Ticket

At any venue the entrance ticket will always include pop-corn and a soda to enjoy the show but if you go at the VIP you’ll also get a small souvenir (small keychain) to bring home. That said there’s a consistent difference in price between the normal shows and the VIP ones.

A normal show on Sundays should cost you around 50 Bs. (sometimes even less we heard) but if you decide to opt for the VIP that costs 70 Bs.

Views at sunset over the city

Cholita Wrestling – Reality vs. Expectation

By attending any of the fights, you must already know that its not really a fight but more like a pantomime-show where all actors are good acrobats and have learnt their part by heart. Usually, fighters will follow a plot where the “bad” girl is initially winning (helped by a bribed referee) but then it will eventually loose under the power of the “good” girl. This will feature a lot of acrobatics, very real but fake slaps and possible drink spilling on the head of the fighters. Crazy uh!

In general, there are multiple cholitas fights over an evening but the whole show will always start and finish with men wrestling. For us, even though it was a definitely interesting activity and some sort of entertainment that we never witnessed before, it was still boring after the second-third fight of all characters following the same script/moves.

That said, we did go at the VIP tourist venue and not at the local show so we could have had a complete different experience but either way, we wouldn’t have gone out of the way to see this show if we knew how it would have been. If you’re planning to visit the market at El alto and happen to be there on Sunday by all means head over and see the fighting but in any other circumstance, is probably not worth it, especially taking a tour!

PLANNING A TRIP TO BOLIVIA? CHECK MORE POSTS BELOW!