la paz prison tours

San Pedro – A Prison Like No Other

La paz - bolivia.

On a Sunday afternoon in La Paz, I went to prison.

No, they didn’t arrest me for drugs or acts of public indecency, rather it was a straight-forward tourist thing.

You see, there’s a guy Fernando, English speaking, who’s been in the slammer for 4 years now – on an 8 year sentence – for possessing only 4 grams of cocaine.

Yet, he admits he’s been a drug dealer all his adult life.

And now, he’s organizing San Pedro prison tours – with the help of the jail governor, who he bribes with tourist dollars.

So far, he’s shortened the last 4 years to 1.5 with his prison tours

Touring San Pedro Prison is to enter a brutal surreal circus

Despite once being a nunnery of – I assume, well-behaved, Catholic virgins, the complex now houses 1300 of the baddest bad boys.

Resembling a shanty market, but with high walls and deep courtyards, survival in San Pedro depends on your cash and insider status.

Fernando lived in the elite ghetto of corrupt lawyers, mafia and drug barons busted.

They had cells—more like hostel rooms—around a cluster of balconies, furnished with TVs, waterbeds, computers. All luxuries paid thru the system.

The richest guy in the prison was a mafia boss busted with 4 tons of coke, and he lived on the ‘penthouse’ top floor.

We’d waited at the prison’s stone-fort entrance, then passed thru a metal detector and armed guards.

Past lines of families. Guards searched Bolivian women with black plaited hair and traditional bowler hats. I show ID.

Walking thru locked iron gates. Meantime a guy behind bars shouts instructions on ‘How to Enter the Prison’.

Inside and surrounded by half a dozen of ‘his security boys’, I paid the guard’s fee.

Then ushered into another courtyard to begin the prison tour.

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For an hour, they showed us around block to block, protected by an alert group of tough guys.

It wasn’t a prison movie setting of concrete-block rows, cells and bars.

Rather, a maze of rooms and alleys and balconies and courtyards – some with food kiosks, fruit and veg stalls. Others had card games going-on and shoe repairs as small business was the key to survival inside.

I watched men talking with families, laughing with girlfriends, and kids wandering.

Many families stayed inside with their dads, kids went to school to return each night to prison!

Prisoners have to rent rooms in San Pedro Prison

Often they had to keep their families here, rather than kids living on the street.

New prison arrivals who had no money became the servant of someone else in exchange for a floor to sleep.

Food was free.

Yet moneyed prisoners never ate it because it had sedatives. (I watched zombies wait in line to eat.)

Instead, most prisoners cooked or ate at kiosks, run by as inmate businesses.

Prisoners ran San Pedro Jail; not the guards

No guards dared to enter inside, they only patrolled the streets and the walls outside.

Everything was available.

Alongside food and standard commodities, there was alcohol, cocaine, grass. And women! Wives, pros, girlfriends could enter and stay overnight, for a price.

The 1-hour tour of San Pedro Prison cost $10

An overnight – your-own-cell, sex and substance package started at $100.

But – No. Too much potential for problems.

So why could this guy operate a prison tour?

Well, he was number 7 in the hierarchy of 8 who ran San Pedro Prison. And one of his friends, who accompanied us, was the number one guy.

A mafia mean-looker who handled punishments. He took special interest in dealing with convicted rapists.

They outlined their torture methods.

Do you want to hear about it? Probably not.

Anyway, these guys got everything they needed.

Plus, time off their sentences for doing this prison tour as the Governor got rich.

Both men had long scars down the throats and face.

I felt safe here.

But when family visiting hours were over, “accidents and suicides”—as he put it—often happened, often; sometimes weekly, especially over gambling debts.

Back to punishments: When a new rapist arrived in prison, they forced him into a concrete pool in the courtyard. There he would get abuse. Have food, shit, piss thrown over him. Later beaten across the bare butt 20 to 30 times with a plastic-coated lead cable (torn from prison walls). Most rapists screamed for mercy after 3 lashes. Following the lashings came crushed, hot chillies rammed up his bleeding butt.

And on that note, my San Pedro Prison tour ended – the glee of the torturer smacking this rod against a wall.

Wack! Wack! Wack!

My 2002 experience was before the book Marching Powder (about Thomas McFadden, an imprisoned English guy who began these tours in San Pedro; written by Rusty Young). But by 2009, they stopped these tours after a riot inside the prison ended in swat teams and tear-gas.

Comment Link: San Pedro Prison riots that closed down the tours

Travels in Bolivia – 2002

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• South America
• A Glimpse Inside San Pedro...

A Glimpse Inside San Pedro: Bolivia’s Self-Run Prison

Right in the heart of La Paz’ middle class San Pedro neighborhood lies one of the world’s most notorious prisons. Cárcel de San Pedro (San Pedro Prison) reached international fame in 2003 when Australian law graduate Rusty Young released his first novel, Marching Powder : A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America’s Strangest Jail . The bestselling book captivated readers for its harrowing insight into the lawlessness and corruption inside the now-infamous jail. After all, this is a prison that is completely self-run, where police only patrol the perimeter to thwart potential escape efforts, leaving governance entirely in the hands of the criminals inside.

Three thousand inmates cram into the chaotic prison that was originally designed for just 600. They are not assigned rations or accommodation by the state, instead relying on the generosity of family members or income from menial jobs on the inside. There are a number of employment opportunities inside the jail, from bar tenders, chefs, waiters and shopkeepers, to security guards, politicians and real estate agents. Some years ago, there were even guided tours given inside the prison. Corrupt guards would allow English-speaking guides to escort foreign tourists through the complex, some of whom stayed overnight to enjoy wild, cocaine-fueled parties.

Much like life in the free world, society inside the prison is divided into classes depending on the economic wealth of the inmate. The poorest reside in notoriously dangerous sections which are crammed full of addicts sharing with up to five people in a cell designed for one. But the quality of accommodation increases dramatically for those with financial means, with the richest living in fancy, gated communities that are segregated from the rest. Many of these are corrupt businessmen, politicians or narco-traffickers who enjoy luxuries such as flat-screen TVs, wifi, or even Jacuzzis.

The process of purchasing accommodation is surprisingly formal. Available cells are advertised on leaflets throughout the complex and buyers purchase their cells directly from the prison mayor or through a freelance real estate agent. Taxes must be paid on real estate to cover things like maintenance, security, cleaning, renovation, and even the occasional event. After agreeing on a price, titles are signed in front of an authorized witness who verifies the details and formalizes the transaction with an official seal. Prices range from US$20 for floor space in a cramped cell to US$5,000 or more for the prison’s finest apartments. Those who cannot afford to buy a cell can rent one for cash or in exchange for work.

The prison also has a remarkably well-structured political system. Each section has its own administrative officials who oversee housing, security, punishment and sanitation arrangements. Their salaries come from funds raised by internal fees and taxes, which are managed by the prison treasurer. A prison mayor is democratically elected on an annual basis, and enjoys the highest authority in the community.

Due to a lack of police presence inside the facility, large-scale cocaine production is undertaken to bring much-needed income into the community. Huge, elaborate labs produce what is said to be the country’s finest cocaine, while smaller clandestine operations produce just enough to supply the prison’s many addicts. The good stuff is smuggled out daily through visiting family members, a practice casually referred to as negocios (business). Unsurprisingly, addiction is rife throughout the complex. The majority of users smoke base, leftover residue from the production process that is highly addictive. Eighty percent of inmates are inside for drug-related offences, and 75 percent are still awaiting trial.

Women are forced to live on the inside with their husbands as they can’t afford to support themselves alone. Many bring their children with them, who only leave once a day to attend a nearby school. Life on the inside leaves the women and children vulnerable to abuse, resulting in frequent occurrences of rape. The worst of which caused the death of a young child whose perpetrator was later caught and beaten to death in what is known as justicia comunitaria (community justice).

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The Bolivian government has been planning the prison’s closure for years now due to overcrowding, rampant drug production and the inability to protect innocent family members from abuse. It also happens to occupy a large portion of prime inner-city real estate, undoubtedly worth significant money. Upon closure, most prisoners will be sent to Chonchocoro, a notoriously harsh and strictly controlled prison in the impoverished city of El Alto. Every time the issue is brought up the inmates riot in a desperate attempt to protect their homes and community. As bad as San Pedro may seem, living conditions for even the poorest residents are preferable to those of Chonchocoro.

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The World’s Weirdest Tourist Attraction: San Pedro Prison, La Paz

San Pedro Prison is one of the biggest in Bolivia and the common destination for people convicted of breaking the country’s laws. However this is no ordinary prison. San Pedro has gained an infamous reputation with all the bizarre stories that have come out of it through the years. This includes everything from tales of cocaine labs, wild parties and wealthier inmates renting fancy cells equipped with hot tubs and king-size beds. There was even a period when backpackers in La Paz would take tours of the prison and sometimes end up, quite voluntarily, staying for days or weeks in their crazy new surroundings.

Dark Tourism: Bolivia’s infamous San Pedro Prison

How does it differ from normal prisons.

There are all kinds of ways in which this place differs from a regular prison. Firstly, rather than being hidden away in some distant suburb or outside the city altogether, it is found right in the very heart of the administrative capital La Paz. Indeed El Penal de San Pedro overlooks a pleasant plaza of the same name, just a couple of blocks from Avenida 16 de Julio, the city’s main thoroughfare.

Inside, things only get weirder.  San Pedro’s notoriety mostly comes in that it is one of the few prisons that is essentially run by its inmates. For starters, prisoners must pay for their cells when they enter the prison, that’s after they’ve coughed up the entrance fee!

Essentially, the prison has its own little, corrupt economy, and as in any other having a bit of money helps a lot. There are many different sections ranging from terrible conditions in the poorer parts where inmates are crammed in with up to 10 prisoners sharing a small cell to parts which are more like posh apartment blocks and house convicted businessmen and politicians.

The wives and children of many of the inmates also actually live with their husbands inside the prison. Every inmate must earn their living as nothing comes for free so many run shops, restaurants and, as has widely been reported, even cocaine laboratories. Unlike most prisons, guards rarely enter the main part of San Pedro, so prisoners are for the most part left to look after themselves. Unsurprisingly, there have been numerous tales of brutal violent acts between fellow inmates.

Thomas Mcfadden, Rusty Young & Marching Powder

Until the 1990’s, outside of Bolivia at least, little was known about the ongoings in San Pedro and travellers to La Paz came and went, most likely without even knowing the place existed. That all changed when British-Tanzanian Thomas Mcfadden started offering tours of the prison after he was incarcerated for drug trafficking in 1996.

Travellers passing through La Paz along the typical South America backpacking route (known as the Gringo Trail), quickly started to take notice and before long a visit to San Pedro, was high on the to-do lists of many adventurous travellers. Despite the apparent dangers of being a wealthy foreigner inside a prison in South America’s poorest country, many came back multiple times after the tours, to spend time with Thomas or enjoy the cocaine-fuelled parties.

One of those was Australian backpacker Rusty Young, a law graduate in his 20’s at the time, who went on to spend several months inside San Pedro, speaking to Thomas and writing a book about the place. Marching Powder , published in 2003, offers a fascinating insight into life in the prison through the eyes of Thomas Mcfadden and documents some of the crazier experiences he had. It’s an excellent read and still a popular companion for anyone travelling around South America.

Will there be a Marching Powder Movie?

There had been talk of a Marching Powder movie with plans seemingly gathering speed in 2014 when Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment production company optioned the book and even got an actor in place to play Thomas Mcfadden. However as of 2021, there have been no further developments and there is still no movie.

There is though a 2017 film called Wildlands – a documentary by Marching Powder author Rusty Young on Bolivia and the brutal reality of the cocaine trade. This can be watched on Amazon Prime.

Backpackers in San Pedro

Thousands of backpackers have entered the prison since the tours first started, intrigued by what is unquestionably one of the oddest tourist attractions in the world. Given how lucrative and popular they had become, other inmates continued to offer tours, even after Mcfadden’s release, and they remained popular with travellers in La Paz throughout the 2000’s.

Even Lonely Planet at one point included San Pedro in its South America guides. Many visitors were shocked and fascinated in equal measure by the tour which normally included visits to the different sections, the cell of the guide and the infamous swimming pool where many inmates have reportedly been murdered.

Another draw for some travellers was the cheap cocaine on offer and that’s perhaps what the prison is most well known for. Many inmates are coke addicts and given that it is produced onsite, the cocaine in San Pedro is reportedly amongst the purest in the world.

What is San Pedro Prison like today?

San Pedro Prison today is much less accessible than it used to be when many of its darkest secrets would come out. That’s partly because the Bolivian authorities don’t like to admit the reality of the situation in San Pedro and its corrupt system, largely brought about by a lack of funds to properly police the place.

They are certainly against the kind of global publicity a potential Hollywood movie would bring, but word in La Paz is that the prison still operates in much the same way as it has done since the days of Thomas Mcfadden.

The impact of the global pandemic in 2020, means we don’t have any accurate recent reports of life in San Pedro. The above report comes from late 2019 and documents extreme overcrowding with the prison operating at over seven times its capacity. The going rate for a private cell/flat is now supposedly in the region of 1000USD/month, far beyond the means of most inmates.

Can you still do tours of San Pedro?

There are conflicting reports about the current situation with the tours over the past few years. Backpackers in San Pedro Prison are certainly a less common sight than 10 or 20 years ago but like many things in Bolivia, if you’ve got money and the contacts, you can make things happen.

However it is certainly harder to visit now than it used to be and there are wide reports of scams with people taking money off travellers at the gates and in the plaza. You also reportedly have to pay to get in and even more to get out so be very wary if you try to visit and do your research.

Your best bet is probably to talk to fellow travellers in South America and especially La Paz and try to go as a larger group if you are concerned about the safety of it. Hostel staff may also have up-to-date info but will most likely advise you against trying to go.

Alternatively, you can go to the plaza next to the prison where former inmate ‘Crazy Dave’ gives lively daily talks about his experiences inside (in English).

This article was last updated in January 2021

Featured Image of the Prison via Danielle Pereira , CC BY-SA 2.0

3 thoughts on “ The World’s Weirdest Tourist Attraction: San Pedro Prison, La Paz ”

Currently i’m living in that jail, i have the purpouse of make little tours in the future, say comments and sugestios

estas en la carcel?

I did the tour in late 2010, it was amazing. From memory (though it’s always subject to change) the tours only ran on weekends. If you were offered a tour during the week and coughed up the cash outside of the prison, you just got scammed. No $ are paid over until you are inside the prison in the guard’s offices. And yes there are cocaine labs inside, but (apparently, I wouldn’t know anything about this….) the drugs inside are no cheaper than the drugs outside the prison, so people don’t go there just to take drugs. But yeah sometimes they shut the tours down completely when new politicians or police chiefs come in, but once they manage to bribe them they start the tours up again.

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• South America

Can Tourists Still Party in San Pedro: Bolivia’s Most Famous Prison?

Sustainable travel expert, adventure seeker

Adelaide SA, Australia

Go to prison of your own free will. Have a massive party. Leave the next morning. Or stay. No one really cares.

A couple of years back, I spent 12 months wandering around South America , and from the day I landed, I quickly learned about the South American backpacker’s bible, and that it was basically required reading for anyone who had headed there in search of adventure.

Marching Powder tells the story of Thomas McFadden, a British man who was apprehended at Bolivia’s La Paz airport in 1996 with five kilos of cocaine hidden in his suitcase. It chronicles his experiences in San Pedro prison, an institution located right in the centre of the city.

This book is incredible , and I’d suggest reading it whether you’re a South American backpacker or not. As soon as I had worked my way through it, I was very intrigued to see how the prison described in the book compared to the prison of today, so I packed my bags —ensuring they were 100% powder free—and headed to La Paz. Here’s what I found.

It’s a weird place

So, you’ve been sentenced to a stay in San Pedro. The first thing you’ll be asked to do is pay the entry fee. Yep, like a day at Disneyland, you’ll need to pay for the pleasure of staying. Once inside, you won’t just be handed a cell, you’ll instead have to find a cell to rent. No money? You’ll be sleeping in the courtyard. Have a drug kingpin amount of money? You can rent a lovely two-storey condo with a Jacuzzi for around $5000 a month. Wild.

How do you pay your rent? By getting a job. Perhaps you become a realtor and rent out those cells. Perhaps you become a handyman, a cleaner, or a restaurateur (you can get a beautifully cooked fillet steak inside San Pedro if you’re willing to pay for it). Or perhaps, like a large percentage of the prison population, you turn your talents to producing cocaine. It’s common knowledge that San Pedro produces the highest quality cocaine in Bolivia, which sometimes leaves the prison by way of a diaper thrown over the wall.

But what if you’re a family man with a wife and kids in need of support? No problem, they can move in too . The kids leave the prison for school in the morning and come back at the end of the day while the wife finds an in-prison job, just like you.

Officially, San Pedro is a medium-security prison, but because of its unique economy and awesome location, it sees some very high-security type offenders buying their way in. This not only increases the amount of trouble, but the popularity also means that it holds around four times the amount of prisoners that it should.

You can’t go inside

In Marching Powder , McFadden earned money by leading guided tours through the prison. If the visitors paid enough, they were also allowed to stay the night and indulge in the jail’s famous “produce”. A lot of tourists go there today expecting the same situation, but, unsurprisingly, things have changed since the book was released in 2003.

When McFadden was released, there were other inmates, generally locals, who tried to keep the tours going. But after a series of unsavoury incidents–violence, sexual abuse, even instances where tourists were mistaken for real prisoners and locked up for weeks at a time–controls on outside visitors were tightened. Even if you are offered the opportunity to go in today, you just don’t do it.

You can get a firsthand account

With outside interest as great as it’s ever been, a new kind of tour has emerged to fill the void left by McFadden. And, while it’s certainly not the experience described in the book, I found it almost as weird.

If you’re in a La Paz hostel talking about going to San Pedro, someone will probably mention Crazy Dave. He’s a 50-something year old dude from New York who apparently got sentenced to 14 years after being busted smuggling 8.5 kilograms of cocaine. You may also hear of Alex, Crazy Dave’s Bolivian side-kick who spent some time in the US before being locked up in San Pedro for an armed robbery. He brought his family in with him.

If you head to Plaza Sucre around midday or 1pm, Crazy Dave and Alex, both of whom were still on parole when I was there, will manifest out of nowhere and ask whether you’re there for the tour. You don’t need to find them, they’ll find you . What follows is an hour long walking tour that takes place outside the prison walls, but offers amazing insight into what goes on inside. Crazy Dave plays the lead role, Alex is the hype man, and the whole double act is super entertaining.

The ex-cons confirm much of what was in the book and add in many of their own experiences, everything from drug production and parties to escapes and beatings. At the start of the tour, they promise to answer any question honestly and completely, and in my experience they were true to their word. It’s a truly fascinating, gritty, and entertaining tour.

Just watch for the powdered milk

And that’s not a euphemism. The oddest bit of the whole experience comes at the end. As a tip-based tour you give as much as you feel it was worth. I handed Alex a few Bolivianos, but as I turned to Crazy Dave he said “No, no, no. I’m a junkie, man. If I get cash, I’ll just spend it on drugs. If you don’t mind, I’ll take you to a supermarket and you can buy me some groceries.” How responsible , I thought to myself.

When we got to the supermarket, Crazy Dave marched down the aisle and grabbed two huge containers of powdered milk, along with a couple of little items, maybe a toothbrush and an apple. I asked him why he’s buying so much milk. “I bury it under a bridge, just in case I need emergency nutrition,” he says. The group then get the bill…double what any of us were planning to tip. But we pay–he’s an addict trying to come good, after all–and say our goodbyes.

But when we get back to the hostel we realise that everyone who has done the tour has bought the same thing for Crazy Dave: about 20 kilograms of powdered milk and little else. And this happens twice a day, almost every day of the week.

If you’re a person who likes their glass half full, you might suggest he has the world’s largest stomach and strongest bones. If you prefer your glass half empty, you might postulate that he’s cut a sweet deal with the supermarket to ring backpackers dry. Choose your own adventure, dudes.

But even with that knowledge in the bank, I’d still recommend the book, the visit, and the tour with every fibre of my being. Bolivia is a crazy country , and San Pedro is that craziness concentrated and distilled.

Even if it’s no longer like it was, it’s still a fascinating relic of a different time. And as the cogs of progress turn, it’s one that won’t be around forever.

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Book , Travel · March 17, 2018

Inside La Paz’s notorious San Pedro Prison

Now for our next infamous attraction. The San Pedro prison experience was made famous in the biography of English drug trafficker Thomas McFadden who was incarcerated there. His story was told in Marching Powder which was written by the law graduate Rusty Young, who befriended Thomas in the jail.

Incarcerated may not be the right word as it is an open jail where due to poverty families have no choice but to live with their convicted partners, the inmates can also bribe the guards to let them go on a night out of they wish. The great irony of the story was that Thomas was caught smuggling cocaine and when he was put in solitary confinement he still had balls of cocaine still in his stomach.

He kept on swallowing the coke balls each time they worked their way through his digestive system in the hope that he could sell them to the inmates when got out of his lone cell.

This unsanitary situation proved to be rather futile as when he was free to roam he discovered that the prisoners manufactured their own cocaine and that the product was also the purest in the world. For anyone familiar with Breaking Bad this is Walter White quality gear.

After seeing some coked up backpackers sitting in the prison canteen, I can believe that it is the purest in the world as they were obviously very, very high. We were offered cocaine at the end of the tour but taking cocaine in the prison didn’t have a massive appeal, especially as it was full of men who were potentially dangerous.

Our tour guide cheerfully informed us that our two security guards were murderers which bizarrely meant that they were better qualified to protect us from violent inmates. The situation became more bizarre when Steph offered one of the murderers a cigarette as a goodwill bribe and he turned it down and asked for a sweet instead, which of course made it all the more confusing.

As you will have gathered, you can go on a tour of the prison if you pay a bribe, this is a very lucrative business for the guards and tour guides alike as it seems that every backpacker wants to see the awful cocaine spewing hellhole that is San Pedro prison.

The entry fee was about £20 and you went armed with cigarettes for prison workers and sweets for the armies of kids that in highly unfortunate circumstances are brought up calling the jail their home. Luckily for us the South African women who was the unofficial tourist receptionist on the door had melted her brain with narcotics years earlier and she completely forgot to charge us for the privilege of the San Pedro experience.

It was only a matter of time before a journalist did the obligatory undercover ‘expose’ on the San Pedro tours as with the favela tours despite the jail being an open secret often spoken about by travellers on the circuit. As Marching Powder explains what happens on the inside in vivid detail, it was an odd choice of story and meant that the tour was shut down. As far as I’m aware it hasn’t been reopened since.

Whilst it caused less harm than the favela report that endangered the lives of the tour guides it was much less worthy than other major events that often go unreported internationally.

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The world’s most bizarre prison, where prisoners have established a functioning society.

Right in the heart of the mountainous city of La Paz in western Bolivia, 11,500 feet up in the Andes, lies San Pedro Prison, one of the most notorious and bizarre institutions of its kind in the world. San Pedro might be many things, but it’s certainly not your average prison. Unlike other prisons from around the world, what makes San Pedro unique is the fact that it is quite literally a society within itself and what’s more intriguing is that it is run by its inmates. Originally designed for just 600, it now houses nearly 3,000 inmates, most of whom are convicted of drug-related crimes.

It is most likely that this bizarre place wouldn’t have reached the international fame it enjoys today if it wasn’t for a bestselling novel entitled,  Marching Powder : A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America’s Strangest Jail .

The novel, written by Australian journalist Rusty Young, tells the story of Thomas McFadden, a former inmate, who had been arrested at La Paz airport for smuggling five kilos of cocaine and soon found himself jailed in one of the most notorious penitentiaries in the world – Cárcel de San Pedro. Young’s novel gives us a fascinating insight into the infamous world of San Pedro Prison through the eyes of former inmate Thomas McFadden.

It all began in 1996 when McFadden arrived at San Pedro Prison for the first time. He was shocked to find out that he had to pay around $5 for his imprisonment and additional $5,400 for his own cell. “It was like not a prison it was like a village,” he told The Sun Online . “I saw children, shops, and restaurants. I went crazy. I thought I was losing my mind,” he added.

McFadden had to adapt to this rather strange world of Cárcel de San Pedro where, as he told  The Sun Online,  cocaine is cheaper   than a plate of food. It didn’t take him long to realize how things functioned within the walls of the prison and soon he became part of San Pedro’s society and started making a living as a tour guide of the prison, offering tours of the prison to backpackers.

It was on one of his many tours that he would meet Australian journalist Rusty Young, with whom he became friends and told him all about his experiences in San Pedro. They even became roommates after Young managed to bribe one of the prison’s guards who allowed him to live inside the prison for the next three months. While there, Young witnessed the bizarreness of the place with his own eyes and was more than inspired to write his bestselling novel.

San Pedro Prison is guarded only from the outside. Guards’ only assignment is to make sure that no one escapes, which means that the prisoners are for the most part left to look after themselves. As mentioned, prisoners pay an entrance fee and then they must buy their cells either from the “prison mayor” or through one of the prison’s “freelance real-estate agents” when they enter the prison.

The prisoners established a functioning society within the walls of the prison. They elect eight officials, one for each section of the prison. Each of these sections is represented by a small council that makes decisions. Many of the prisoners in San Pedro Prison live together with their wives and children in the prison. There are about 200 children who live with their fathers in this place. “You can live with your wife, kids, and pets, you don’t have to wear uniform and you don’t know when you’ll be leaving,”  McFadden told  The Sun Online.

The children inside the prison are under constant danger, but as reported by the  Daily Mail, rapists and child molesters are treated with a brutal zero-tolerance policy by the inmates and they usually end up drowned in the small swimming pool inside San Pedro Prison.

The living conditions in the prison vary in different sections. For example, in the poorer sections of San Pedro Prison, the conditions are more than terrible with several inmates often living in single-room cells.

On the other hand, the luxurious La Posta sector of the prison is the section where politicians and drug lords live in luxury cells, which include private bathrooms, jacuzzi, kitchen, and cable television. Living in La Posta costs between $1,000 and $1,500 and not many people can afford to live there.

San Pedro operates its own economy with inmates working as shopkeepers, food vendors, pastors, barbers, carpenters, shoe shiners and some of them even running cocaine laboratories. It is said that the purest cocaine in the country is made and sold inside the prison.

Many of the prisoners earn money either through alcohol trade or gambling.  La Paz Life  reports that “up to US$20,000 in bets are placed per year on inter-section football matches.”  Since the 1990s, San Pedro became a major tourist attraction in the country and has been visited illegaly by thousands of tourists from all over the world.

Here is another interesting story from us: He escaped from prison so many times that a special prison was built for him – escaped that too

Although the Bolivian government stated on more than one occasion that plans to close the prison down, it remains fully operational. However, since 2009, large-scale tours are officially off limits and backpackers’ remaining options are La Paz walking tours, which offer the surroundings of the prison and of course, Marching Powder’s story.

As for Thomas McFadden, he had been released from the prison back in 2000 and now works as a chicken farmer in Tanzania. As part of a documentary, he went back to San Pedro with his friend Rusty Young and upon returning, he told  The Sun Online  that besides the fact that it’s been 20 years since the prison became a tourist attraction, only little has changed within its walls.

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Red Cap Walking Tour: La Paz Through a Local’s Eyes

Perched at a staggering 3600 metres above sea level, La Paz is a city unlike any other on earth. Having read such gripping travel tales of the frenetic city, I was eager to experience first hand what life was really like within the valley walls. Traveling to La Paz for the first time however, while impressed by the massive mountains and stunning views, I was surprised to discover just how congested and chaotic the sprawling city was.

To alleviate the stress of trying to navigate the complex and narrow alleys on my own, I jumped at the chance to explore La Paz with a guided tour.

Experiencing Red Cap’s Walking Tour

As per Red Cap’s instructions I made my way to the meeting point. Upon arriving at Plaza San Pedro, I was quick to spot a red cap floating among a sea of about 30 tourists. After a friendly introduction from our two guides, and a quick meet & greet, we set off on our walking tour of La Paz.

San Pedro Prison

Located off the tranquil Plaza San Pedro, we were shocked to learn that some Bolivia’s most hardened criminals lived only meters away in one of the world’s most corrupt prisons.

What makes San Pedro prison so interesting are the conditions in which the 1500 or so prisoners live. A society within itself, the prison contains shops and restaurants run by inmates, women and children living voluntarily with imprisoned family members and ironically, some of the country’s busiest cocaine laboratories.

One of the most bizarre details we learned was that the prison runs its own economy. Not unlike ‘normal’ society, the more money prisoners have, the better their living situation. Corrupt politicians and drug lords live in luxury cells, while the poorest prisoners live in squalor. Inmates are also responsible for purchasing their own food and health care. A few prisoners are supported by family members, but many have to find jobs within the prison in order to survive.

For a deeper look into the infamous world of San Pedro Prison I recommend reading Marching Powder  – it’s an interesting story to say the least!

Rodriguez Market

Our second stop was La Paz’s largest street food market, Mercado Rodriguez .

Before walking through the busy stalls selling fresh vegetables, fruits, meat and seafood, our guide explained to us the history of the potato in Bolivia.

Over 8000 years ago in the highlands Bolivia, the potato was first domesticated and has been the staple food for Bolivians ever since. The country boasts over 200 varieties of potato and it’s estimated Bolivians consume around 90kg of potatoes a year.

While walking through Rodriguez Market, our group was given the challenge to identify the 8 varieties of potato our guide described to us during the ‘potato lesson’. This was no easy task given there were spuds in literally every direction we looked.

One other thing that captured our attention at the markets were the colorful and elaborately designed clothing worn by the local women. Our guide briefly explained to us the history and components of Cholita Fashion and its significance to the Bolivian culture. It was bemusing to learn just how much these outfits cost… not something I could afford to wear that’s for sure!

Witches Market

Around the corner from Rodriguez Market, we were lead to the part of the city where ancient Aymaran beliefs are still practiced.

For those suffering an ailment, searching for wealth or looking to exact revenge on a cheating partner, La Paz’s Mercado de Hechecería , is the place to go for a variety of potions, medicinal plants, spells and spiritual advice.

One of the most peculiar items I came across while perusing the stalls were the dried llama fetuses. According to our guide, Bolivian families make a cha’lla (offering) to Pachamama by burying a llama fetus under the foundations of their new homes for protection, health, happiness and good luck.

The Witches Market is certainly an entertaining sight for travelers, however it’s important to remember that the market is a serious and sacred business to the people who work there. Picking up items willy-nilly and taking photos without permission is not appreciated by the Witch Doctors, who may in turn curse you!

San Francisco Church and Plaza

Next we visited one of La Paz’s most important and historical landmarks, the San Franciso Church .

The beautifully decorated church, admired for its intricately carved facade and blending of catholic and native art, was built entirely by indigenous Aymara workers in the middle of the 18th century.

The church’s outer walls, built in the baroque-mestizo style, feature carvings of indigenous symbols, such as snakes, dragons, tropical birds and masked figures. A contemporary statue of rock columns in the upper section of San Francisco Plaza is intended to honour the Tiwanaku , Inca and modern cultures of Bolivia.

San Francisco church is a focal point of La Paz and therefor a prime location for protests, demonstrations, and organised events.

Mercado Lanza

On our way to Plaza Murillo we walked through a passage-way housing a variety of hole-in-the -wall restaurants selling traditional Bolivian food and delicious fruit juices.

Food sovereignty is important in Bolivia with smaller local eateries thriving over big franchises due to their ability to serve satisfying, healthy, home-cooked food at affordable prices.

I was aghast to learn that McDonald’s had to close their doors in La Paz due to their inability to attract a customer base. It’s hard to think of other places in the world where a nation’s people prefer to buy their burgers from a local vendor than the ‘golden arches’!

Plaza Murrillo

Arriving in the central plaza of the city, we all took a seat on the steps facing the Presidential Palace and the Cathedral of La Paz .

In hushed tones so as not to ‘upset’ nearby locals, our guide proceeded to give us a brief overview of Bolivia’s dramatic political history.

We learned that Bolivia’s political past has been quite brutal with presidents assassinated at an alarming rate. A recent example of Bolivia’s political violence was in 1946 when president Villarroel was set upon by group of enraged rebels who threw him off  a balcony and proceeded to hang him from a lamppost.

Thankfully, politics in Bolivia now seems to be free of violence, The current president, Evo Morale, looks to be doing good things for the country and is popular among the indigenous communities.

That being said, president Morales has had his fair share of political mishap, making wild claims such as ‘eating too much chicken will make you gay’, and ‘drinking too much coca cola will turn you bald’. Fortunately, he acknowledged the absurdity of these statements and apologized to the groups of people he offended.

Hotel Presidente

Our final stop on the walking tour was the 17th floor of Hotel Presidente.

Set against a backdrop of massive mountains and endless blue skies, La Paz became more than just a maze of urban dwellings. The bustling city, beautiful in its own unique way, features stunning architecture, historic buildings and colourful surrounds. You just have to know where to look.

If the view wasn’t enough, we were offered the opportunity to abseil down the outside of the hotel with Urban Rush . Satisfied with the walking part of the tour, I politely declined the invitation and wandered back through the narrow streets with a new appreciation for this incredibly fascinating city.

Note: Tours now finish at Olivers Tavern where you can try a local drink and get help booking anything you would like to do in Bolivia!

Having two friendly, passionate and knowledgeable guides show me around La Paz was a truly memorable experience. Most of all, I really appreciated being able to see the sights from a local’s perspective in a fun, safe and entertaining setting. Highly recommended for those visiting La Paz for the first time!

The Details

Starting Point: Plaza San Pedro

Cost: 20 Bs / $3 US per person

Tour Length: Approx. 2 1/2 hours

Distance: About 2.5km with plenty of stops along the way

Leaving: 11am and 2pm daily

Guides: English and Spanish speaking

What To Bring: Hat, sunscreen, money, bottle of water, camera, and comfortable walking shoes

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Let's Discuss...

I don’t find La Paz “congested and chaotic”. To me, it has the feeling of a medium-sized town.

And it definitely isn’t “sprawling”. Where would it sprawl to? It’s surrounded by mountains.

It’s always funny when people mention that there is no McDonalds in Bolivia, but fail to notice that Coca Cola is the national drink. But nice talk about “food sovereignty”.

The scandals and lies of Evo Morales are a bit more than a “mishap”, too. There is a reason he lost the last referendum, even among his own traditional constituencies.

Hey Andreas. Another interesting fact I learnt on the walking tour was that cash-strapped San Pedro Prison was once able to procure extra cash by working with Coca-Cola. The soft drink company supplied the prison with tables, chairs and umbrellas in return for the exclusive right to advertise and sell its product line within the prison.

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A look inside San Pedro prison, where inmates guard each other and visitors are no longer welcome

DRUG dealers mingle freely, prostitutes come and go, and inmates deal out their own justice. This is the world’s strangest prison.

Boomers, if you’re doing this you’re too rich

‘You are crazy’: Terrifying detail in family pic

Incredible sight hiding off quiet Aussie beach

IN THE heart of the Bolivian city of La Paz, in a prison unlike any other, inmates live by their own rules.

Drug dealers mingle freely. Prostitutes come and go and cocaine is produced and trafficked.

Guards take bribes and inmates deal out self-styled justice. The results are often fatal.

The prisoners are fed two meals a day and forced to work for a third. Cells are not free, either. If an inmate cannot afford a cell, it’s life “on the streets” inside, which is far more dangerous than life on the streets outside.

Inmates who can afford a cell live with their wives and children, but that creates obvious problems.

In 2013, it was alleged a 12-year-old girl fell pregnant after being raped by her father and several other men.

The fallout was bad for Bolivia and the government announced the facility’s imminent closure . A new jail would be built outside the city and prisoners would be relocated.

Almost three years later, San Pedro prison remains open but it won’t stay open for long.

I decided to take a look for myself. After bribing the guards, my camera was confiscated. The things I saw will stay in my memory forever.

A CITY BEHIND HIGH WALLS

Originally built to accommodate 600 prisoners, San Pedro holds over 2000 inmates and their families at any one time.

San Pedro inmates live within the five, four and three star accommodation sections, or “on the streets”, and must rent or purchase their own cells for up to $1100 each, in addition to a one-off “entry” cost of about $270.

For prisoners in one of the poorest countries in South America, these are often unachievable savings.

To pay for their safety, prisoners carry out work as kitchen hands, cooks, cleaners, carpenters, painters and convenience store owners. “Street” vendors even sell homemade foods.

Where it is said the most money is made is in the production of illicit drugs — specifically cocaine.

The majority of inmates in San Pedro have been imprisoned for their roles in the manufacturing and distribution of cocaine.

With no law enforcement patrolling the interior and guards accepting bribes to access supplies, knowledge of producing and distributing cocaine can lead to an attractive, high source of income.

Inside the facility, some prisoners confirm cocaine is produced by inmates and smuggled out by visitors and their family members.

Despite this, mothers and children regard their living situation as relatively safe.

When touring the facility, prisoners openly discuss the zero tolerance attitude toward violence or mistreatment of women and children.

However, a lack of official enforcement and monitoring makes safety impossible to ensure.

MY TOUR BEGINS

Made infamous by the release of the book Marching Powder in 2003, the prison began to attract more attention and foot traffic from curious tourists seeking a closer look.

Scribed by Australian Rusty Young, who bribed his way into voluntarily living inside the facility for three months, the book details the experiences of imprisoned English drug trafficker, Thomas McFadden.

As a foreign, English-speaking prisoner, McFadden faced terrifying grief.

However, his situation also led him to his own revenue stream. He became a tour guide at the facility, accommodating curious internationals.

On the day I visited, a group of tourists were led through the exterior gates to an office of the most senior guard on duty, an area between the outer wall and the prison yard.

Left alone for just enough time to second guess our decision to enter, an intimidating and confusing conversation was had between the visitors and the guard.

The group was then introduced to the tour guide; a prisoner fluent in English, convicted for trafficking cocaine out of Bolivia.

After a reassuring speech about security and the “once in a lifetime” opportunity, we gathered to privately discuss whether the prisoner could be trusted.

My wallet and camera were confiscated on the way in, something I now realise was for my own protection.

My arm was stamped on the way in. The stamp was the only thing distinguishing me from the inmates. Walking in, we were met with cheers and jeers.

Money changed hands quickly. With each transaction we held our breath, hoping the guide had enough cash to pay for our protection.

Like many other Bolivian buildings, San Pedro prison is in a run-down state, however inmates still take pride in the presentation of their homes and living quarters.

Prisoners have access to all offerings in their own section, as well as the opportunity to use communal services and businesses in common areas of the jail, such as food stalls, restaurants, convenience stores, massage therapists and an on-site brothel, run by visiting prostitutes who are believed to pay guards a fee to enter.

Despite many illegitimate practices taking place inside, prisoners also run good-hearted health and spiritual programs for those in want or need.

There’s a drug rehabilitation facility and chapels in each section.

Inmates openly declare themselves as ongoing drug users and to avoid temptations and quit, prisoners spend their days inside the restricted quarters of the rehabilitation area.

Other prisoners use faith to help them serve their time behind bars, attending services, joining groups and becoming involved within a variety of religious programs.

In Marching Powder , Young describes a scene where accused child rapists are murdered in a frenzy. Their bodies are dumped in a concrete hole known as the “swimming pool”.

Violence exists, but we didn’t see it.

The prisoners we encountered were calm and polite and seemed as interested in the tourists as the tourists were in them.

Many inmates greeted the group with “hola” or “hello”, followed by a giggle.

Some offered souvenirs such as bracelets or a memento of the experience.

One prisoner gifted the group a portrait drawing of each visitor, signed by himself as a San Pedro prisoner.

Guests were given the impression the visit was valued, more so than just financially, and that inmates legitimately cared for our wellbeing.

RAISING CHILDREN BEHIND BARS

The education of kids in San Pedro is taken seriously.

Those living inside are schooled at the nearest facility within a few hundred metres of the jail, and are walked to and from school each day by prison guards.

Many Bolivians are unhappy children are being brought up alongside criminals and argue that a youth spent behind bars does not provide kids with normal social skills or an appropriate environment to learn.

Inmates speak of the children being ridiculed and often becoming bullies at their school.

Soon, wives and children won’t live with their convicted husbands.

Following the controversy over the 2013 attack, the government announced the building will be acquired by the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance of Bolivia.

A new prison will be built outside the city and all prisoners will be transferred.

The new facility will bring an end to La Paz’s infamous San Pedro prison.

Illegal tours have ended, according to locals I spoke with recently. The jail continues to operate, for the time being, but the doors have closed to the public forever.

There is a strange trend growing among wealthy, well-travelled Australians who have time and money to spend.

Tourists are spending thousands of dollars to drive straight towards violent weather that others run from, and tour operators have never seen demand like it.

When most tourists think of visiting the Great Barrier Reef, they make the mistake of overlooking this stunning Aussie island.

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San Pedro Prison, Bolivia: As the Tourists, Dollars and Snapshots End the Riots Begin

July 9, 2009 in Amateur , Documentary | Tags: Bolivia , cancelled , carcel san pedro , Exploitation , foreigners , La Paz , mutiny , Photography , Prison , prison tours , riots , San Pedro Prison , snapshots , tourim , Tourist , Tourist Photography , Youtube | by petebrook

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31246690@N05/2991395387/in/set-72157608560173196

San Pedro Prison in Bolivia has ceased tours for foreign visitors.

I regret my one missed opportunity. I’d been mildly obsessed with the La Paz prison for a couple of years before I arrived outside its gate and got turned away. That was July, 2008. I had read in Lonely Planet it was a piece of cake to get in and get a tour. Apparently not in my case. I surmise, that I had experienced the beginning of the end for La Paz’s most bizarre tourist attraction.

It’s definitely over now. This from yesterday’s Guardian;

It used to be one of South America’s most fabled tourist attractions. Celebrated as unique in the world, San Pedro in La Paz, Bolivia, was a prison like no other. Foreign tourists would pay bribes to enter, gawk, shop, dine and even do drugs. A sweeping crackdown has barred tourists from the complex, replaced corrupt guards and challenged bizarre practices which had become the stuff of lore.

Tours have never been officially recognised and the vagaries of securing visiting privileges for foreigners stems from the fact that prison guards have different rules/corruptions and relationships to outside ‘tour-guides’. Basically, foreigners had to be lucky or connected to get inside.

Flickr searches prove that “ wide-eyed travellers ” have visited in all the months since my failed attempt.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31246690@N05/2991500117/

The reason for the end of this bizarre tourist ritual? Seemingly, tourists got too cocky and too brazen. The new prison warden ended the debacle. This was a peculiar decision (on first glance) given years of international coverage and tolerance by the authorities, but basically, everyone involved had become too comfortable – objectionably so – with the institution-turned-circus.

The group most guilty for giddy spectacle was of course the tourists. In February the self-titled “Wild Rover Group” posted this video.

And it was the tipping point. The video doesn’t show anything that wasn’t commonly known, but it spells it all out with clarity and (critically) to an unrestricted worldwide audience.

This thorough dissection of the events by a Bolivian source, explains;

In an irreverent tone they boasted about their tour, were seen laughing and enjoying it, and they filmed some of the cocaine manufactured inside, as well as the facilities, rooms, kitchen and other areas. Days later, tourists began to show up in record numbers at the Plaza across from the prison. This drew the attention of neighbors and the general population. There were too many and it was too obvious.

It is surprising that a single video should be the tipping point, especially after a decade of widely circulated photographs. Nevertheless, the circus could no longer be ignored, nor controlled.

Interest online was mirrored by interest on the ground. Tourists filled the square outside wishing to visit; such numbers could no longer be surreptitiously ghosted in the side-door.

Vicky Baker explains,

The tours have been run on and off for years, but this time the (totally unofficial) organisers pushed it too far. There was an increasing lack of discretion. Travellers were being allowed to take cameras in and were uploading pics on to flickr and videos on to YouTube (Were all prisoners asked permission about this?). Rumour had it that local tourist offices were offering tours under-the-table, while those that turned up at the door, like I did, found that money was exchanging hands in a sideroom on prison premises. The prisoners leading the tours had become greedy. If they’d had any sense, they would have halted them on the six-month anniversary of the arrest of Leopoldo Fernández, a controversial ex-governor accused of genocide. That day inevitably brought protesting crowds and film crews. According to James Brunker , a photographer based in La Paz, when one of the film crews got wind of a tour group inside, they decided this was “far more interesting!”.

Here’s the local media shining a big spotlight on activities with long-overdue questioning and coverage of the tours. Foreigners reacting to the attentions, flipping off the camera and scampering away under jackets were only ever going to look bad!

Governor, Jose Cabrera, is emphatic, “The prisoners have to understand that this is a penitentiary.”

The tourism, while exploitative, was a reliable source of revenue for the prisoners and their families. By shutting down the tours, incomes for over a 1,000 men, women and children was dragged out from under them.

San Pedro was/is indelibly tied to society outside. Family members come and go daily to bring goods and services to the self-made micro-economy. The decision to close the tours down was exacerbated by new restrictions on visiting privileges. Discord grew.

On March 26th at about 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon, what apparently began as a small discussion and fight escalated into an all out prisoner mutiny. Hundreds of police officers were sent in to control the situation. The police shot canisters of tear gas into the prison’s interior patio. Soon prisoners were scrambling up walls and onto the roof.

As the Bolivian news crews were present to film the hoards of foreign tourists in the square, they captured the three hours of unrest from start to finish. Families, including children, of the prisoners were caught in the tear gas clouds. Unfortunate scenes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmablackburn/3193188900/

The riot was a predictable end point to the new warden’s crude (but probably) necessary shut-down of this dubious spectacle. Many Bolivians didn’t like the fact the nation’s biggest prison was a site of titillation for foreign visitors; many were understandably ashamed and angered.

Paradoxically, one of the factors that allowed mass visitation was the accommodation of family members to spend unlimited amounts of time with incarcerated husbands & fathers during daylight hours. The institution had a generous (and unAmerican) protocol for the relaxed coming and goings of non-inmates.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28346908@N08/3294916189/

Money and the necessities it brings are key to solving the tensions. According to a prisoner interviewed by La Rázon, “70% of the [250 peso] fee goes to the police and the people who organize the foreigners for the tours,” the rest being split up among prisoners. This monetary ecosystem may not have been fair but it was consistent.

The new warden has since negotiated and agreed new rules for San Pedro, presumably taking into account the stymied income for all inside. Time will tell. As an indication of how fragile authority is at the prison, the new warden has adopted a fast rotation of guards to prevent foreigners … the suggestion being, a guard needs only to get comfortable at his gate post before he can start manipulating bribes to get tourists in again.

I’ll leave you arguments for permanent closure of San Pedro to foreigners with the thoughts of two Bolivians;

This type of tourism contributes to a blatant abuse of prisoners’ rights and human rights in general. A handful of pesos from tourists is not a substitute for the government providing the inmates with basic food, shelter and medical care (and as many as 75% of prisoners in San Pedro are simply awaiting trial and have not been convicted of any crime). Thousands of pesos a day being poured into the prison via tourism serves mainly to maintain and sustain the system of corruption that governs the prison and turns its inmates into the rough equivalent of animals in a zoo.

Isn’t it possible to be more responsible? To be more respectful? When touring a foreign country must it be treated like a traveler’s playground with no regard for local inhabitants? Not to mention, is your own safety actually worth it? And what kind of message is being sent to those who are imprisoned? That they must pay for their crimes but foreigners can get away with illegal activities for Bs. 250 per tour?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7472145@N08/3216691700/

The Remains

The photographic legacy is wide and varied. Amateur snaps prevail here , here , here and here . Enthusiasts occasionally turn their skills, and professionals such as Hector Mediavilla have focused on cocaine manufacture and drug addiction in San Pedro Prison.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisanddebbie/3306614036/

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• Julia Rendleman
• Julie Adnan
• Jurgen Chill
• Kevin Miyazaki
• Kirk Crippens
• Klavdij Sluban
• Kristen S. Wilkins
• Laure Geerts
• Leah Tepper Byrne
• Least Wanted
• Lee Saloutos
• Lieven Nollet
• Lizzie Sadin
• Lloyd DeGrane
• Lori Waselchuk
• Luigi Gariglio
• Lynsey Addario
• Maja Daniels
• Marc Vallee
• Marco Baroncini
• Marilyn Suriani
• Mark Murrmann
• Mark Strandquist
• Masumi Hayashi
• Mathieu Pernot
• Max Whittaker
• Melania Comoretto
• Michal Chelbin
• Mikhael Subotzky
• Mohamed Bourouissa
• Nathalie Mohadjer
• Patricia Aridjis
• Paul Kwilecki
• Philippe Bazin
• Richard Ross
• Robert Gumpert
• Sara Bennett
• Sarah Bones
• Sarah Hoskins
• Sasha Maslov
• Sebastien Van Malleghem
• Serge J-F. Levy
• Stephen Tourlentes
• Steve Davis
• Susan Madden Lankford
• Sye Williams
• Taro Yamasaki
• Theo Stroomer
• Toby Binder
• Tomer Ifrah
• Trevor Paglen
• Valentina Quintano
• Vance Jacobs
• Yana Payusova
• Yusuf Sayman

Photography Blogs

• 1000Words (Tim Clark)
• 40 Watt (Shawn Records)
• 40×50 Editions (Jeff Ladd)
• A Photo Student (James Pomerantz)
• After Photography (Fred Rictchin)
• American Suburb X (Doug Rickard)
• Asian Photography Blog (Yaohong)
• B (Blake Andrews)
• BagNewsNotes (Michael Shaw)
• Bill Eppridge
• British Photographic History
• Buffet (Andrew Phelps)
• Carlagirl photo (Carla Williams)
• Claxton Projects
• Colin Pantall
• Conscientious (Joerg Colberg)
• Consumptive (James Luckett)
• Contact (Anna Stevens & Emily Graham)
• David Campbell
• David Dare Parker
• Dektol (Danny Lyon)
• Digressions (Daniel Shea)
• Dodge & Burn (Qiana Mestrich)
• Drool (Tony Fouhse)
• Duckrabbit (Ben Chesterton, David White & Ciara Leeming)
• Dvafoto (M. Scott Brauer & Matt Lutton)
• En Foco (Miriam Romais)
• Exposure Compensation (Miguel Garcia-Guzman)
• Exposure Project
• Eyecurious (Marc Feustel)
• Food For Your Eyes (Nathalie Belayche)
• For the Right to Look (Nicholas Mirzoeff)
• Fugitive Vision (Evan Mirapaul)
• Hamburger Eyes (Ray Potes & friends)
• Harvey Benge
• Humble Arts Blog (Grant Willing)
• Ian Aleksander Adams
• Iconic Photos
• ILOVETHATPHOTO (Saskia Hoogerhuis)
• It's Never Summer (Wayne Bremser)
• John Edwin Mason
• L O Z (Laurence Vecten)
• Lens Culture (Jim Casper)
• Lenscratch (Aline Smithson)
• Manchester Photography (Mark Page)
• Melanie McWhorter
• MPD (Mark Peter Drolet)
• Mrs. Deane (Norman Beierle & Hester Keijser)
• Muse-ings (Tim Atherton)
• New Photographics (Jonathan Worth)
• No Caption Needed (Robert Hariman & John Louis Lucaites)
• On Shadow (Nicholas Calcott)
• One Way Street (Bernard Yenelouis)
• Photographers on Photography (Alison McCreery)
• Photographers Speak (Dean Brierly)
• Photographs Do Not Bend (Sherry Cuttler)
• Photographylot (Tom White)
• PhotoPhilanthropy (Eliza Gregory)
• Politics, Theory, Photography
• Raw Take (Mike Davis)
• Re: PHOTO (Peter Marshall)
• Reciprocity Failure (Stan Banos)
• Scarlett Lion (Glenna Gordon)
• Shane Lavalette
• Shpilman Institute for Photography
• Simon Sticker
• Slightly Lucid (Aislinn Leggett)
• Super Massive Black Hole
• The Incoherent Light (Darren Campion)
• The Spinning Head (Asim Rafiqui)
• The Visual Student (Kevin Martin)
• The Year in Pictures (James Danziger)
• Third Nature (Dalton Rooney)
• This is the What
• ThisPhotoThat (This, Photo and That)
• Too Much Chocolate (Jake Stangel & friends)
• Truth in Photography (Robert Semeniuk)
• Two Way Lens (Michael Werner)
• Verve Photo (Geoffrey Hiller)
• Visual Culture Blog (Marcus Bohr)
• Walk Your Camera (Roger May)
• We Can Shoot Too (J. Wesley Brown)
• We're Just Sayin (Iris & David Burnett)
• What's Going On? (Dawoud Bey)
• What’s The Jackanory? (Andrew Hetherington)
• Written By Light (Andrew Jackson)
• Zoe Strauss

Prison Art, Film, Literature, Multimedia & Theatre

• 360 Degrees
• A Hard Straight
• Angola Prison Football
• Close Tallulah
• Corrections Documentary Project
• Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
• Girls On The Wall
• Guantanamo Public Memory Project
• Imagined Prisons
• Journal of Prisoners on Prisons
• Oakdale Prison Community Choir, Iowa
• On The Count Radio Show
• Open Hearts Open Minds
• Pat Graney Dance – Keeping the Faith
• Prison Arts Coalition
• Prison Bridges Project
• Prison Creative Arts Project
• Prison Creative Arts Project, Michigan
• Prison in Cinema
• Prison Performing Arts, Missouri
• Prison Radio Association (UK)
• Prison Time, Journalism series
• Prison Town
• Prisoners of Katrina – BBC
• Scared Straight
• Selling of a Serial Killer
• Shakespeare Behind Bars
• Sheila Pinkel
• Standard Operating Procedure
• The Corrections Documentary Project
• The Cost of Punishment
• The Fear Factory
• Thousand Kites
• Visions of Abolition
• Witness to an Execution

Prison Blogs

• Business of Detention
• Change.org: Criminal Justice
• Current State of Affairs
• Evolving Standards Of Decency
• Grits for Breakfast
• Innocence Project Blog
• Jailhouse Lawyer
• Juvenile Justice blog
• Life Sentences
• Prison Law Blog
• Prison Librarian
• Prison Movement
• Prison News Blog
• Prisoners All
• Prisoners Family Voices
• Real Cost of Prisons
• Right On Crime
• Sentence Speak
• Sentencing Law and Policy
• Solitary Watch
• StandDown Texas Project
• Supreme Court of US Blog
• Texas Prison Bid'ness
• Think Outside the Cage
• Una Ragazza Americana

Prison Reform

• ACLU National Prison Project
• Books Not Bars
• Books To Prisoners
• Books to Prisoners – Bellingham
• California Corrections Crisis
• Center for Community Alternatives
• Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice
• Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition
• Correctional Association of New York
• Critical Resistance
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Fair Sentencing for Youth
• Families to Amend Californias Three Strikes
• Family Life Behind Bars
• Fortune Society
• Friends & Families of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children
• Friends Committee on Legislation of California
• Getting Out, Staying Out
• Howard League for Penal Reform (UK)
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Just Detention
• Justice Atlas
• Justice In Prisons
• Justice Not Jails
• Justice Project
• Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana
• Louisiana Capital Assistance Center
• National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
• PEN Prison Writing Program
• Penal Reform International
• Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project
• Prison Activist Resource Center
• Prison Design Boycott
• Prison Law Office
• Prison Legal News
• Prison Policy Initiative
• Prison Reform Trust (UK)
• Sentencing Project
• Vera Institute of Justice
• Women Behind Bars Project
• Women's Prison Association
• Young in Prison

Prisoner Education

• Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project
• Bard Prison Initiative
• Bedford Hills College Program
• Boston University Prison Education Program
• Center for Prison Education, Wesleyan
• Center for Prison Outreach and Education, NJ
• Changing Lives Through Literature
• Cornell Prison Education Program
• Education Justice Project
• Friday Center for Continuing Education
• Gateways for Incarcerated Youth, WA
• Hudson Link
• Inside-Out Center
• Liberal Arts in Prison, Iowa
• Partakers: College Behind Bars
• Prison Entrepreneurship Program
• Prison Outreach, Georgetown University
• Prison Studies Project, Harvard
• Prison University Project
• Prisoner Reentry Institute
• Project for Inmate Education, UC Santa Cruz
• Rend Lake College at Pinckneyville Correctional Center
• St. Louis University College-in-Prison Program
• The Fortune Society, NY
• The Prison Teaching Initiative, Princeton
• University Beyond Bars

Recommended

• BleakHouse Publishing
• Boaz & Ruth
• Carefully Aimed Darts
• Cathartic Aggression
• Center for Land Use Interpretation
• Courthouse Confessions
• Culture Hall
• Democracy Now!
• McSweeney's
• Pulse Media
• Sit Down Man, You're a Bloody Tragedy
• Sociological Images
• The Rights Exposure Project
• Walden House
• World of Words

Social Justice

• Brennan Center for Justice

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Comments feed for this article

January 4, 2010 at 10:43 pm

The tours still go on. I managed to get in July 2009.

May 15, 2012 at 1:11 pm

ENCARCELACION: The Global Post Looks at “Latin America’s Fatal Prison Problem” « Prison Photography

[…] – Valerio Bispuri – Pedro Lobo – Vance Jacobs and Columbian prisoners – tourist photography in Bolivian prisons – prison tattoos (some from Central America) – Kate Orlinksky’s portraits of […]

January 21, 2013 at 5:28 pm

Guernica Mag Covers Force-Feeding And Prison Tourism « Prison Photography

[…] 19th Century Museum Prison Ships Roger Cremers: Auschwitz Tourist Photography Daniel and Geo Fuchs’ STASI – Secret Rooms Steve Davis visits the Old Montana Prison Hohenschönhausen, Berlin: Stasi Prison Polaroids Philipp Lohöfener at the Stasi Prison Museum, Berlin San Pedro Prison, Bolivia: As the Tourists, Dollars and Snapshots End the Riots Begin […]

February 13, 2013 at 12:56 am

Toby Binder’s Photos of Infamous Bolivian Prison Go Beyond Common Tourist Snaps « Prison Photography

[…] media visit regularly. More astonishingly, access for tourists is common. Over three years ago, I wrote extensively about prison tourism at San Pedro. Changes in security, scrutiny and administrations sometimes close the gates temporarily for […]

August 11, 2013 at 8:09 pm

Giovanni Cobianchi Portraits From Inside Bolivia’s San Pedro Prison | Prison Photography

[…] It also attracts professional photographers. For me, the story of San Pedro has always been the sporadic schedules of guided tours within the prison. First they are on, then they are […]

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