The World’s First Cocaine Bar: Route 36

VICE host Zach Shucklin goes in search of Route 36, the world’s only known ‘cocaine bar.’ Located in the mountains outside of the Bolivian capital La Paz, the notorious lounge bar promises high purity coke by the gram—served up on a silver platter, along with a delicious cocktail of the patron’s choice. Along the way, Shucklin learns about the rich history of coca farming in Bolivia, and meets a local witch doctor—or ‘yatiri’—to explore the leaf’s cultural uses. Route 36, which is open only to tourists, moves premises regularly to evade the local authorities. That said, its existence seems to be an open secret in La Paz, which leads you to suspect that, for it to remain in business, there may be an element of corruption at play. This film premiered at the new membership section of VICE.com—subscribe now to get exclusive early access to our documentaries, as well as 4 issues of the recently revived VICE magazine each year: https://www.vice.com/en/youtubemembership/ About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vice Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vice?lang=en The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: https://www.youtube.com/VICE MUNCHIES: https://www.youtube.com/MUNCHIES VICE News: https://www.youtube.com/VICENews VICE TV: https://www.youtube.com/@VICE-TV/featured Noisey: https://www.youtube.com/Noisey Motherboard: https://www.youtube.com/MotherboardTV https://www.youtube.com/@VICESports Waypoint: https://www.youtube.com/WaypointVICE #Bolivia #VICE #LaPaz