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La Paz is the highest city in the world located at over 4000 metres above sea level. Nestled amongst two very large mountains, houses stretch for miles up to the very top peaks; which also makes you wonder how they are balanced on the steep cliff sides when you are looking up at them. Altitude is still a killer here and as you are basically always on a hill you always seem out of breath and tired; There's no getting away from it and the trick is to walk at a snails pace.
The first three days we didn't do much at all; Myself having been poisoned on the Bolivia tour and Jonathan's achey back meant that we could only explore the surrounding streets around the hostel. Luckily the hostel we picked was in the heart of La Paz and only a short walk to some pretty quaint looking streets and the famous Witches Market! The first thing you notice on entering La Paz is the traditional dress sense of the women. I don't know how they manage to walk up these hills in their frilly clothes as they look heavy and uncomfortable. Kitted out with what looks like layer after layer of puffy undergarments complete with an old-school pinafore style ankle length dress, topped with a bright patterned thick wooly Llama shawl and then a black bowlers hat which stand tall on their head over their long black plaited hair. Bolivian women definitely have the most interesting dress sense out of any traditional people I have seen so far. Also, often they have a baby slung over their back wrapped tightly from head to toe in blankets (sometimes I don't know how the baby breathes and often you only realise it is a baby when they lay it on the pavement and the blanket comes away from its face, otherwise you would think it was a bundle of their laundry or something.)
The next thing to notice is the car/taxi/bus drivers (but you can't stand still and notice them for too long however as they will knock you over). You quite literally hold your life in your own hands crossing these roads. The traffic is continuous and to get across the roads is a mad dash in between moving vehicles which don't stop at all to let you over. Even if their way is blocked they try everything to squeeze and push their way into any tiny gap pomping there horns furiously. The only road which quite literally has people dressed as Zebras to let you over the crossing is the main road at the bottom, however the odd vehicle still tries to push through the crossing crowds.
The streets in La Paz are lined with shops featuring every knitted LLama wool garment you could think of, all very nicely made and some of the best quality seen so far. You can also buy some lovely little wooly animal finger puppets for children and some bright Llama cotton patterned shoes and guitar cases. The Witches Market features more of these shops however a few other strange objects for sale such as herbs, Coca leaves, charms, and dried up Llama foetuses of all shapes and sizes...some with fur and some without, of which if you hang one above your door it brings you good luck. The first three days we ventured around the streets on one of the mountain sides of La Paz stopping often for banana and strawberry smoothies from the local cafe. The fourth day we moved to the other mountain side to relax for two more days. This mountain side has a nice Plaza and a completely different feel to the other mountain side; being abit more scummy, smelly and not as traditional and quaint looking. There is a chicken dish that is sold in many places in La Paz and it is the worst thing I have ever smelt; I can't comprehend eating this local dish as it smells rotten and made me feel sick upon passing. However this side of town made a nice change as it was like a whole new town in itself and had a great night market which was bustling with stalls and street entertainment. This side of the mountain is centred around the pretty Plaza Murillo which is a square again complete with a cathedral, government buildings and palaces and a monument. In this square there are hundreds of pigeons which you can feed. Jonathan decided it would be great fun to buy some seed and then chuck half the contents of the bag over myself so in return I got bombarded by about 500 pigeons, landing on my head, shoulders and swarming my feet! Very amusing for Jonathan and a couple of Bolivian blokes watching and laughing at me! Jonathan also thought we should go and learn about the Bolivian Coca leaf as you see it here, there and everywhere. Off we went to the museum to learn about the Andean cultural Coca leaf properties and about how it's great for altitude sickness if chewed and stored in the side of your mouth and also how Bolivians and Peruvians use it as an anaesthetic and stimulant; We also learnt about how it became popular as an ingredient in Coca Cola and also how it came to be used and chemically adapted into the ever more popular drug Cocaine. As we tried chewing this leaf on the Bolivia tour (it tastes disgusting) we found it interesting however I think my mummy museum was much better!
Bolivia is also alot better in terms of food. Living off Bread and Jam for breakfast for the last few weeks has definitely taken its toll and we was delighted upon arrival in La Paz to find an English pub across the road! As soon as we was upto it, full English breakfasts at the ready... Yummy, how we have missed our Bacon! Throughout most of the countries so far there has been a choice of Pizzerias or Grill restaurants only. Here we have Pizzerias and Grills again but also have Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Indian, International, Bolivian, Dutch, Italian, Marrakech and French! A whole variety to choose from. The Mexican platter for 2 that we shared on one occasion was a bargain for £10 and featured all the favourites of Tacos, Fajitas, Burritos and Chilli. It Was delicious! Bolivia is excellent for choice and we are finally getting to try some more authentic South American dishes for eg. having Llama curry or Lake Titicaca Trout to choose from.
La Paz is a huge city and you don't realise how big it is still your exiting it. It took nearly two hours just to exit out of La Paz as we wound up the curvy steep roads up into the mountains. It's great though as we saw some more of the 'traditional' La Paz; Local markets and local people going about their day to day lives. It's definitely a city brimming full of culture and a pleasant stop for 5 days. To Lake Titicaca next time, Hayls and Jonathan x
- comments
Dad Hiya Hayley - I was thinking of putting a lucky horseshoe on the front door of the house, but on reflection, a dried up Llama foetus sounds far more effective. Please send me one. Love Dad x
mumL Make that two one with fur on . Looking forward to reading about Lake Titicaca, it looks brilliant one not to miss. Hope you are both well Jonathan's back and Hayley's tum