Leaving Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil in the order of their finishing at the pit stop, the remaining nine teams flew to La Paz, Bolivia.
From a tropical seacoast to the high altitude city, the teams experienced difficulty in breathing and movement, and couldn't take time to acclimatize to the 12,000' varying levels of the city, but that couldn't stop them from their first challenge, which was to take a taxi from El Alto Airport to the statue of Simon Bolivar (for whom Bolivia is named) in central La Paz, and there await the delivery of the early morning newspaper to find their next clue.
When the newspapers arrived, the teams, who had been sleeping on the sidewalk by the statue with some blankets provided by local women, scanned the papers for the clue, which was directions to a hat shop near the Plaza Murillo, the main plaza in the city.
There, after buying a traditional cholita hat, a bowler seen in these images of people of Bolivia, the teams were directed to perform a detour, which was a choice of Musical March or Bumpy Ride.
The march involved walking a route between two plazas and collecting band members along the way. The ride meant going to the Mercado de las Brujas, or Witch's Market, collecting a wooden bicycle with minimal steering and no padding, and riding that to the Plaza Abaroa, protected only by feathered helmets.
From the plaza, the next clue sent the players to Los Titanes del Ring in El Alto, the location of bizarre and choreographed wrestling matches, "fighting" women wrestlers. Here, one member of each team was instructed in the correct wrestling moves, then donned a costume, and entered the ring to wrestle, amid applause and catcalls from the audience, a cholita. (You'll find description and photos on this site: Bolivian Wrestling.) Some of the players did quite well, others had to return to training, and one needed supplemental oxygen.
Once they survived the wrestling match, the teams hurried to the next pit stop, located high above the city at the Mirador del Monticulo. At this viewpoint with excellent views of the city, the first to arrive won a trip to Mexico, and the last team to arrive was eliminated:
- Ken and Tina
- Toni and Dallas
- Terence and Sarah
- Marisa and Brooke
- Aja and Ty
- Nick and Starr
- Andrew and Dan
- Kelly and Christy
- Mark and Bill
From La Paz, the surviving teams fly to their next destination in New Zealand, so our coverage of the Amazing Race 13 ends, and we say adios y buena suerte to them all.
