After making the decision to go to Bolivia, it was easy enough to decide to check out La Paz. A mere five hour bus ride from Copacabana, it seemed like an easy side trip. However, as seems to be the rule in Bolivia, nothing is really as simple as it appears.
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We knew that the tourist buses filled up quickly, so we bought our tickets a day in advance. The tourists buses aren't that much more expensive than the local buses, but allow you to put bags in underneath storage rather than strapped to the roof and ensure that you have a seat and don't have to stand in the aisle for the duration of the ride. Also, it drops you off at the bus terminal in central La Paz, rather than the outskirts of town. We even showed up to the bus stop an hour early! Unfortunately, our pre-planning was all for naught. The bus company that we bought our ticket from apparently didn't fill their bus enough and sold their tickets to a tour operator. A tour group showed up just before we were scheduled to leave and we were not the priority. Our tickets were sold once again; this time to a local bus. So we ended up paying tourist bus prices and still riding the local bus. There were several others in our same situation and no one was happy about it. However, there was little any of us could do but complain.
The bus ride itself was interesting too. A short ways into the trip, you reach the end of the road... literally. Everyone off the bus! The bus then drives onto a ferry that transports it across the lake to the road that will eventually take us to La Paz. The passengers all take a different ferry which costs us one and half Bolivianos. This is a tiny amount, but we were perplexed as to why it is not included in the bus ticket as tolls are. Still the ferry experience was kind of cool.
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La Paz itself is best described as frenetic. After getting a taxi from our "outskirts" bus stop to central La Paz. We were dropped off at the Plaza de San Francisco and made our way into the so-called Witches Market. We have been to a lot of crazy places and crowded cities, but this put them all to shame. Just trying to navigate the sidewalks (every one lined with both storefronts and street vendors, at least two deep) with our backpacks was difficult. We had taken a taxi with an Australian couple from our bus and we walked with them to find a hostel. We ended up staying just the one night in the Witches Market before moving to a (slightly) calmer part of the city.
We moved to a hostel called Adventure Brew that was started by the same people that started Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking, the most well-respected outfitter for rides down the World's Most Dangerous Road. While we didn't plan to do the ride, the lure of an on-site brewery (for Jim) and wifi (for Leslie), made this an attractive choice.
We spent the day wandering the city streets. Again, a pretty crazy place. We have become used to the lack of traffic signals and signs and drivers' use of horns to warn other drivers as they approach intersections. But in La Paz, there was also the addition of car alarm type sirens that have become popular for the same purposes, presumably because the car horns just blend into the din at this point. Also, the collectivos all have someone leaning out of the open side door yelling the destination and cost. Hey, it's just a warm-up for SE Asia!
In central La Paz all the streets are essentially on big market. The markets not only sell the traditional wares and local foods, but your everyday items as well. There are sections with stalls that sell pants, another with blouses, and then another with toothpaste, soap and razors. Then there are the stalls that sell herbs, exotic tinctures and even llama fetuses. Yes, llama fetuses. We have been told that an estimated 99% of Bolivian families have a dried llama fetus thrown under the foundations of their house for luck.
We do not have a lot of photos of La Paz because the streets were so hectic and we were warned that there is a lot of theft. At one of the markets someone did try and open our backpack while it was on Jim's back!
That night we went to the backyard bar at the hostel and met some nice folks and enjoyed the on-site brewery. The place is literally built into the side of the valley, so the back yard is four stories above the street in the front. At one point the keg ran dry and my beautiful wife volunteered me to bring a new one up... four stories! In her defense, she was didn't really know what she was volunteering me for, only that the task came with the reward of a free beer. We had a lot of fun, but called it an early night, at least by the hostel's standards.
We spent the next day wandering the city again. It was Sunday and a lot of stores were closed, but that is more than made up by the traditional Sunday festivities almost everywhere you turn.
We were only in La Paz a short time. Overall we enjoyed the city, but wish we could have had more time to use the city as a base for some of the outdoor activities in the area. That seems to be what most travelers do. One of the biggest highlights of the city is the setting itself. Literally nestled in a valley with Illimani mountain (21,200 feet) as a backdrop.
From Wikipedia:
Located at an elevation of 3660 meters, it is the world's highest capital city. La Paz sits in a bowl surrounded by the high altiplano. As it grows, La Paz climbs the hills, resulting in varying elevations from 3000 meters to 4100 meters (9,840 ft to 13,450 ft). Overlooking the city is towering triple-peaked Illimani, always snow-covered and majestic.
Riding the bus in and out of the city provides some amazing views!
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