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Published: April 15th 2008
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And so it was time to get back to altitude, this time with a visit to La Paz (Bolivia's "other" capital city). Our time in La Paz was very different to usual. We didn't climb any mountains or ford any streams. Indeed, most of our time was spent either visiting museums, wandering the streets or eating yummy food. We had been hoping to go hiking in the Cordillera near La Paz but sadly end-of-wet-season weather conditions were against us.
We visited a number of museums in La Paz including (and in no particular order):
* The Coca Museum
Fascinating stuff showing how coca leaves were chewed for thousands of years by Andean people with no great problems. Then some Western chemists decided to play about with the leaves and eventually worked out they could get cocaine from them. Coca growing is now frowned upon by the "international community" and it is all a bit of a mess. We also learned interesting facts including that Coca-Cola originally contained cocaine, and the Coca-Cola company still has the right to grow coca leaves legally to add flavour to its drinks. Bizarrely there is an international "accord" or somesuch that says that the UK
(and other selected countries) is allowed to produce cocaine for "medical purposes". It all seems a bit wonky to me.
* Calle Jaen museums
A nice selection of five museums with a variety of displays, from modern La Paz art to Inca gold jewellery to a section on the War of the Pacific. The latter was particularly interesting as it showed how Chile and Peru (sadly with the help of Britain) had been able to take Bolivia's coastline away over a century ago. Since then Bolivia has been asking to have some coastline back, but so far they are still a land-locked country.
* Archaeology museum
Despite our tour being in Spanish, we managed to pick up a lot from our guide about the rich archaeological heritage of this part of the world. Of course everyone has heard of the Incas, but in fact there have been many tribal groups in Bolivia including the Tihuanaco. We also learned that there are many different kinds of potato in Bolivia!
* Museum of Contemporary art
This was definitely a surprise treat. I often find "modern art" a bit tough to understand but La Paz's modern art museum was genuinly interesting and engaging.
I particularly enjoyed the work by local Bolivian artists who were trying to show where they see indigenous Bolivians as fitting into the modern social picture - mostly the commentary was unsurprisingly of struggling to find a place in society and conflicts of identity.
* La Paz Art Museum
I think it was the building here that impressed us more than the art. Located in a colonial house which has also served as a hotel it was like walking through a living history lesson. Stunning architecture. The art was also pretty nice too!
* San Francisco Church
We were given a guided tour of the vast San Francisco church and accompanying monastery. There is still a small community of Franciscans living in the monastery but most of it now exists just as a museum. We saw a variety of religious art, artefacts and lots of nice buildings. These people certainly know how to design great architecture.
We also spent lots of time just wandering the streets of La Paz. This is a city which really suits the pedestrian, and we never felt hassled or intimidated (as we were afraid we might). We wandered through plenty of street markets, where
you can buy anything from dried llama foetus (not nice) to freshly cooked sausages or teddy bears or wooly hats (indeed, we indulged in the latter).
La Paz city is set in an amazing location, with the city at the bottom of a "bowl", and the suburbs rising out of the bowl all the way to the rim. Being the highest capital city in the world, it certainly took a concerted effort to climbe the 3 flights of stairs to our hotel room, but we are getting more acclimatised to the altitude, so we didn't suffer as much as many other people do. Indeed, we managed to hike up to miradors overlooking the city (particularly Kili-kili) which gave stunning views across the "bowl".
La Paz was also the site for some great culinary delights. I ate meals I have not had for 7 months (since leaving the UK) including proper Indian-British curry (at the Star of India), beans on toast (at OliverĀ“s Travels) and some excellent Lebanese food (at Yussufs). Bolivia has consistently spoilt and surprised us with its great choice and quality of food. But also we have been honestly surprised by the fun we have had
here, with meeting the locals and seeing the sights. Bolivia really should be on everyone's to-do list.
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Stephen Paul
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
*grumble *rumble
Thats the sounds of you and Barrys stomachs. But they arent hungry for food, but for mountains! The city is nice and all.... but arent you guys going to visit the Cordillera Real soon?! http://www.aspenexpeditions.com/i-Bolivias-Cordillera-Real-Traverse-66.html http://www.mtsobek.com/mts/bcr :)