Nothing terribly exciting to report about La Paz. We arrived by overnight bus from Sucre, a ride which was surprisingly comfortable given it was on a Bolivian bus. We looked into flying but the prices were high and the day we wanted to leave were sold out. The 12-hours on a discarded Argentine bus (full-cama) went by quickly enough.
We stayed at a hotel called Cruz de Andes that smack bang in the middle of the tourist ghetto and co-located with the Mercado de las Brujas (Witch’s Market). Having to walk past dried llama feetuses to get to/from our room was a bit annoying but the location was convenient enough. On the morning of our arrival we dropped by the Museo de Coca which addresses the controversial plant. Coca has been cultivated traditional in this part of the Andes for thousands of years and is usually chewed or brewed in a tea by the locals. This was all well and good until somewhere figured out how to refine it into cocaine (and other drugs). Nowadays there is a heated controversy whether the Andean people should be allowed to continue their tradition.
Walking around in La Paz is a pain! Aside from the annoying hills and altitude, the sidewalks are completely cluttered with all sorts of wares. Blankets, hats, fried nuts, fruits, etc. There is very little room to move around. Crossing streets is also a bit of a challenge. Few streets in La Paz have traffic signals so most intersections are a free-for-all. The minibuses, micros, taxis and common cars all continuous fight for right away and I can assure you that pedestrians are not a high priority for any of them. Entertainingly, along the main thoroughfare in La Paz one can see crossing guards that the city has hired to help people cross the road – they even make them wear zebra costumes!
Well that is about it for La Paz. Like I said, nothing all that special – just a big city. After La Paz we took a trip to Rurrenabaque to see Madidi National Park. The photos are quite good we think (hint hint: monkeys and toucans!) so stay tuned!
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3 Responses to “La Paz, Bolivia”
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It sounds like your experience of La Paz wasn’t a good one. I moved to Bolivia from the UK almost 5 years ago and have lived in La Paz since then. While I agree that traffic can be annoying (the constant honking of car horns especially gets to me), there is so much to do and enjoy in this city.
While I work a lot during the week, I spend my weekends in great clubs (Mostly VIP section), or go-karting, or paintballing, bowling, movies etc. I’m not a huge fanatical about this city (at first glance it can look like a horrible place – especially the “tourist” area around the witches market), however if you know where to go (or speak to someone that knows) it can be a lot of fun for a very small price.
Sorry again that your experience wasn’t good.
Wow the way the city is built along the slope is pretty cool! Keeps the population in shape! I remember having sidewalk frustrations in Cambodia as well. The sidewalk is pretty much just a parking lot of motorcycles. But since it’s not that crowded there, it wasn’t a big deal.
Are you sure the crossing guard isn’t just some weirdo with a zebra fetish? Of all the things that the city can spend money on, they bought zebra costumes…
Yeah, the zebras were quite entertaining. Pretty unbelievable that they would spend their money on costumes but I guess the point of a crossing guard’s outfit is to be seen and that was certainly accomplished!