La Paz, Bolivia - Highest Capital city in the World
MON NOV 17 – DAY 39 – BOGOTA, COLOMBIA TO LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
Up at 4:30am to get to the airport, long day of 2 flights. Finally got to my AirBNB. I have never in my life experienced a drive like the one from the airport to my AirBNB.
It appears the city center is flat in the middle of a massive bowl. The city homes are built around that center so it is a bowl of it seems a million homes built on top of each other – most with the same color and material. The streets are steep up and down and sideways in every imaginable direction but nothing flat. All ages are walking these steep roads, it is mind blowing. The houses as well have endless stairs. It almost feels like a higher end favela as a whole.
I am staying in one of the many houses that looks the same from the outside. It takes 4 keys to get to my bedroom. Once inside the gate, it is surprising! 7 bedrooms, 3 stories… not sure how many washrooms. I have a queen sized bed in a large bedroom with a kettle, blender, toaster, water jug, blow dryer and a view of the city with large windows that open wide. I am in heaven. Who knew when I walked up to a bland wall with a brown door, that this was behind the wall.
I settled in and walked a few blocks to a larger grocery store. I purchased 4 chicken legs, a bag of rice, a bag of cheezies, 2 bottles of coke, 2 ice cream dessert things, a block of butter and 2 buns. All for $19 Canadian. This will be my food in Bolivia for the most part.
Came home, cooked it all up in a large kitchen. Worked a couple of hours and called it a night.
TUES NOV 18 – DAY 40 – LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
Well I was in for a real treat today. My blinds wide open, I woke up to a beautiful view. I reheated some of the rice and chicken to take on my tour w me. I was picked up by my guide and another man Pedro from the Check Republic. Our first stop was the Valley of the Moon – a conglomerate of eroded rock pillars and spires. Beautiful!
Then we took cable cars all over the place. We ended up in El Alto at 4500+ meters above sea level. At the top of those mountains is a massive city on flat ground, imagine!!
We passed a cemetery which holds 200,000 bodies. Due to the population, people must have their loved ones moved out of the cemetery out of the city 10 – 15 years after they are set there. What a way to have to relive that, so very odd.
We walked down .. , saw city center, saw a rink where Bolivian indigenous Amayra women wrestle in traditional polleras and bowler hats. It was insane! They are called Cholitas. As we walked out, I saw a woman sitting there, I asked her if we could take a photo. She jumped up and said yes, and posed in a wrestling pose. When we walked away, our guide told me she is famous. Her name is Yolanda La Amorosa. She is all over YouTube. Pretty cool. She definitely could have knocked me out haha.
From here the streets kept getting more and more vibrant and beautiful. We ended up in Witches Market. We learned of their rituals.
It is not for believing. These Amayra people purchase a dead fetus of some sort, a llama is best. They prepare a tray with all the things they wish for. A house, a car, more clients, whatever it is, and put it all in one tray with a lot of sugar. They lay the dead llama fetus across the plate and pour alcohol on it and burn it. They sit and watch it burn. If the ashes end up white, their wish will be granted. If they are grey, they must perform this ritual again except with all white products. Burn it and walk away, do not look at the ashes. This ritual is alive and well. At the Witches Market, there were many fetuses of all kinds, and many llamas. There is a city at a high altitude which almost ensures a baby llama cannot survive a pregnancy so they have much business up there getting llamas pregnant and when they lose their baby due to the cold weather and high altitude, they dry out the fetus and sell it for these rituals. They can go for a lot of money. The entire ritual explanation was shocking.
After that market, we went home. I did laundry, showered, warmed up some food, made a coffee and settled in my room. I opened my windows wide and it was glorious. I was so behind on blogging and posting so I spent the day getting caught up and chatting with a few people, and my kids. I had an amazing day; my room is so great.
Jorg went to my mom’s tonight for my brother Stan’s birthday dinner. Jado flew to Iguazu Falls today in Brazil and went to a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner and he felt he ate over $100 worth of meat for dinner.
I researched and almost went to the salt flats but I would have to leave 10pm tonight on a bus to arrive there 5:30am.. do the tour all day and then 10pm tomorrow take that bus back again to arrive back here 5:30am, gather my things and fly to Cusco to meet Jado. And the death road North Yungas Road is also too far so instead, I enjoyed my room.
WEDN NOV 19 – DAY 41 – LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
I contemplated very much about doing 1 of 2 other trips I wanted to do but both are hours away. I would have had to board a bus at 10pm last night, arrive 5am today – do the full day tour – then board 10pm tonight on the bus to arrive back here again 5am tomorrow. My room I have here is too special and has been totally rejuvenating so I decided to go a little slower paced and enjoy my room and catch up on my blog,etc..
I slept till 8am – had a coffee – chatted with Jado – then walked downtown from my house up in the hills. I walked all around from 9 till 1pm, then cabbed it back to my place.
I showered, washed my hair for my weekly wash, made some phone calls, and did things around the house. Had my dinner.. same food I have been eating the past 3 days in Bolivia, tho I did have lunch downtown today. Made a coffee after my shower, had a great day!
THURS, NOV 20 – DAY 42 – LA PAZ, BOLIVIA TO CUSCO, PERU
I sit here – 7:40am with my coffee and oatmeal I brought from home, ready to type my recap. My night was very scattered. Jado was flying from Iguazu, Brazil to Cusco, Peru today. We had discussed times and he said he will get up around 3am then call an uber and make his way to the airport. I was almost asleep when I googled the distance from his hostel to the airport and noticed it was 45 minutes! This meant he had a good chance of missing his flight. So now I was wide awake. I texted him but knew he was probably asleep so I set my alarm for 1:45am my time, 2:45 his time to call him as a wakeup call 15 min before his alarm. Except I woke up early .. dealt with that .. took a while to fall back asleep.
But this morning, he just took off from Sao Paulo to Lima, then one last flight to meet me in Cusco for dinner.
My windows are WIDE open, I must enjoy one last morning with this view and fresh air.
RECAP LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
How can I put this city into words? When I arrived, the ride from the airport down to my place was the most shocking ride I think I have ever had in my life. I was not prepared. It felt alarmingly steep and twisted. The ride was very long, the roads seemed to have no rhyme or reason, they went in every single direction, the houses were almost all the same color.
It oddly felt like I was in a fancy type of massive favela. I really felt I didn’t know what was happening. When he dropped me at my place of just a beige wall with a small brown door, I was confused. I rang the doorbell, and everything just got better and more interesting from there.
My bedroom was 10/10 (if I could remove the one building in my line of view I would have haha) – the large windows opened wide to view I have never seen. The air is crisp at 12000 feet / 3660 meters above sea level compared to Kelowna, my home at 1120 feet / 344 meters.
I was very nervous to come here and received many warnings from other travelers about altitude sickness. I have been all over this city, and spent time in El Alto, the city at the top of the mountain overlooking La Paz, at 14 765 feet / 4500 meters and I have been fine. To put that into perspective, this very steep city is made up of walkers. Not many people have cars.
People of ALL AGES walk these steep streets, it is their way of life, often carrying heavy loads. When you get to the very top of El Alto, there are no roads – so if you live up there, you are walking 1000 steps up and down every single day if you work in La Paz. Then take the cable car to work. Many do this.
La Paz has a population of 2 Million including El Alto. The main form of transportation here is old shuttle type vans with no real system. These may include shared buses, vans, or taxis. You must stand on any street corner and watch for the signs that read where you are headed. There is no hope a foreigner could figure this out. You hop in, hop out and pay the driver a few pennies. If the van drives past you in the chaotic traffic, you missed it, too bad – you’re watching for the next one.
The 2nd largest form of transportation is cable cars. This system has 10 colors / lines you can ride depending on your destination. The roads are too wild, steep, and chaotic for any type of infrastructure such as subway or the like. As well, the Choqueyapu River that runs under the city of La Paz frequently floods – so there is no possibility of using any type of underground systems.
There are 36 Indigenous groups in La Paz, but the biggest are Aymara and Quechua. Each has their own traditions and religious beliefs, some combining or overlapping with Catholicism. The Indigenous line the streets of La Paz and El Alto, selling everything from nylons, to electronics, to food.
The city is quite clean, much cleaner than many I have visited in Latin America.
People are allowed to continue to build higher stories on their homes without permits to a certain maximum level depending on where they live. They own their homes and land. Thus, families live in one home, different generation on each level.
I have never been to a city before that uses vans and cable cars for their transport systems, especially with such a massive population. I have never seen a city before where almost every house looks very similar with similar colors, so when you look at the hillside – it all looks the same.
I chose this AirBNB due to the description, living in with a family. This home is owned by a single woman, her adult son and daughter live here too. I get the feeling they are doing fairly well. There are 7 bedrooms in this home, many they rent out. My roommate beside me is from Peru – she is living here for years studying medicine as it is too difficult to get into in Peru. Her parents pay her rent here and she will become a physician here. She likes this home because the neighbourhood is safe, and not too far from downtown. She has her own washroom, I had my own. Surprisingly, the sound with so many people in this home, and surrounding us in every other home, is not very loud. My windows are open and I only hear a few cars. I hear some birds, I believe not as many because there are only homes and not as many trees on these hills.
El Alto, the city overlooking La Paz (also a part of La Paz) – sits at almost 14 765 feet / 4500 meters above sea level, and when you get up there, the city is massive and completely flat on the top of the mountain range. It is a mind bender . the city center of La Paz is flat and sits in the basin of the valley, surrounded by all the homes I have mentioned.
The people seem annoyed. They don’t seem very happy. I feel like the economy here is a little easier than say Argentina. Everything here was quite inexpensive.
Due to the Indigenous, there is much witchcraft in this city, including voodoo. The Bolivians are predominantly Catholic, some Christian, though many have included some indigenous beliefs and traditions in their lives as well.
I had been warned about the food here so I really didn’t try much, so no comment on food. I only tried a local deep fried chicken fast food place I saw everywhere and was curious. I cooked for myself here.
I found this city beyond interesting. Many unique things I had never seen before. I rate La Paz, Bolivia a solid 8/10. For the interesting factor. Every corner I took was another surprise. La Paz has the wow factor for sure.
1- me preparing rice and chicken, enough for my entire La Paz stay - I brought coffee and oatmeal from home for my breakfasts and protein bars for my lunches
next few are at Valley of the Moon, named by Neil Armstrong as it is said he saw this area from the moon, came back down - visited the area, thus the name was born
see the map of the cable car system map
I am standing at the rink where the local indigenous Cholitas still perform and wrestle today. then took a photo with Yolanda where she posed in a wrestling striking me pose - i found out later that she is famous
witches market, you will see many fetuses hanging, the llamas are most famous for their burning rituals to ask for what you want in life
jado sent me a pic of him at the BA sign and ubelisque in Buenos Aires
views from my bedroom loved it!
my roomie from Peru studying medicine in La Paz living in this house for years
one option of a bus, other option is last pic in this post
many pics walking through the market and pics with everyone i bought something from.. i purchased a tshirt, a nailclipper, headphones, 2 patches for jorg for her backpack - paraguay and brazil, a little notebook, a small wallet…
jorg w my mom at my brother’s bday dinner
the fast food chicken meal i bought lol
jado met up with Brent and Nancy Beselt in Iguazu Falls… made my day <3. we have known them our entire kids lives from West Kelowna
photos of locals i snapped as walking downtown
