TRAVEL AND TOURS

There is neither panic nor any terror scream when the troops of hell take by assault, with twirls and scatterbrained movements, the streets of the city. These "evil princes" -of swaying horns and hideous eyeteeth escaping from their mouths- do not produce neither a tiny piece of fear nor a little dose of terror: for this reason people applaud and encourage them and, in some cases, join the rhythmic pilgrimage of the devils of Oruro.

The troops advance dancing to the rhythm of the music played by the band. They are devils of brilliant clothes or coquettish "diablitas" of shrunk skirts that sway the hips one and a thousand times, as if they were trying to tempt archangel Saint Michael, who is walking lost among many dancing demons that are going to surrender homage to the miraculous Virgin of El Socavón.

Penitent devils in Oruro, the folkloric capital of Bolivia, that surrenders in February to the frenzy of its singular carnival, mixing the devotion for the Virgin of El Socavón -patron saint that blesses the daily activities in the dark depths of the mines- with some pagan expressions.

The Carnival of Oruro is an endless succession of dance and faith. Thousands of faithful people dance through the streets of the city -founded in 1606- before arriving at the Sanctuary of El Socavón. Dances of remote origins like the Diablada, the Morenada, the Tobas, the Llamerada and the Phujllay, among other, are revived by the fifty folkloric groups that participate in the festival.

Oruro, with its 3,706 m.a.s.l., is not only the city of the carnival. This corner of the highland is the home of the miners who worship the Virgin of El Socavón and El Tío (The Uncle, the devil), who is the mythical owner of the wealth of the underground. It has a series of discreet charms that make it attractive and welcoming, in spite of the freezing cold weather.