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Published: April 10th 2008
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La Paz - the highest capital city in the world - stuck in a deep crater like valley surrounded by mountains. There is a beautiful view when you finally get to the lip of the valley. You also get a glimpse of snow capped mountains in the distance when you are looking down a few streets. The city itself is pretty crazy - loads of traffic (mostly taxis and public mini vans with bus boys shouting out destinations) and loads of people. The sidewalks are a bit rough for walking, but you don´t really get to walk on them anyway because they are full of stalls and people trying to sell things. Bolivians don´t seem to believe too much in buying things from shops - you pretty much don´t need to go to a supermarket as you can buy anything right off the street. And the prices! Cheap and cheaper. You can buy a three course meal for 15 Bolivianos - about $2. Needless to say this has been very helpful considering our non-existant travel funds.
We found a pretty nice hotel in the main tourist area of La Paz, next to the Witch´s Market, so we spent the first
afternoon just wandering around there and taking it all in. Then we caught up with a Scottish friend we met in Copacabana, and took advantage of the fact that a local was trying to pick her up and had offered to drive her and her friends (us!) out to see Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). So we spent the afternoon being chauffer driven around La Paz.
Moon Valley is absolutely beautiful - it reminded us a lot of Cappadocia in Turkey. Crazy natural land formations effected and accentuated by erosion. We were there at sundown too, so the colours in the mountains surrounding the valley were absolutely gorgeous - beautiful reds and oranges. After a while here we had a drive around the nicer area of La Paz - San Miguel. This part of La Paz is totally different - looks like something from Europe. It was all very nice, but our local friend got a bit hard to shake - he kept wanting to know what our plans were and maybe we could have dinner, or have a bbq at his place or or or... Finally we managed to say polite thanks and leave -
Coca leaf press
Apparently made by a blind man! it almost got scary.
Our second day in La Paz we visited the Coca Museum. VERY interesting. Did you know that Coca Cola did contain cocaine up until 1912 when it was outlawed? AND - Coca Cola still uses coca leafs to add flavour to Coke even now! Coca Cola got the idea from a French wine that was produced with a high quantity of cocaine - in fact, this wine was so popular it got a medal from Pope Leon XIII!!! How bizarre.
As for the history of coca - the evidence suggests it has been used since 2500BC. Traces of coca leaves have been found with mummies from that era. It has always been important in the lives of south americans, for their religious ceremonies, medical purposes and general usage. Then the conquistadors came along and declared it "diabolical" - a hindrance in converting the locals to catholicism, so they tried to eradicate it. Then of course, they found how useful it was for getting the most out of the slaves and decided it was OK. Apparently the slaves would work 48 hours straight without breaks or food if they were able to chew the coca
What overhanging cliff?
And remember - cars used to drive on this road! leaves. Powerful stuff.
Cocaine was discovered in about 1860 by a German and was used for years as an anaesthetic, until synthetic versions were made and they replaced its use. Sigmund Freud used it too - made it into a bit of a "fashion statement" apparently - probably until he got nasal cancer!
What is the story now? Well, cocaine is still illegal here in Bolivia, but growing the coca leaf for sale is not - if you have permission (like Coca Cola!). However, the illegal drug trade is hard at work, and it seems that a lot of the chemicals necessary for its production come from outside the country. Surprise, suprise! We even met some other tourists who went into the La Paz jail (a common tourist activity apparently - you just need to bribe the guards and hand in your passport! - and then you can chat and drink (alcohol of course) with the locals), and they heard that there is a cocaine factory inside!
After this very educative experience we bummed around town with friends, bought souvenirs and enjoyed more of the good cheap Bolivian food! Then it was an early night, because the
next day we went down hill extreme mountain biking with Barro Biking!!! That´s right, we cycled down the "World´s Most Dangerous Road". (Prehaps not quite so dangerous now as they have opened a second road for about 30 of the most dangerous kms, and very little traffic uses the old road now. But hey, it sounds good!)
There were 10 of us in all on the tour, us, our scottish friend Kirsty, another Aussie, two Peruvians and 5 Irish men. Along with us were our capable guides Hector and Jose. First, we were driven about an hour to our starting point about 4700 metres above sea level! We got decked out with helmet, gloves, goggles, wet weather jacket and pants and of course, a bike! A quick 5 minute practice and then it was downhill on the bitumen (with random patches of gravel)! We did about 30kms on the bitumen, having to deal with a little bit of traffic and a few random rocks thrown on the road from the frequent landslides, but all in all it was OK. Until we got to the end bit where we actually had to pedal uphill a bit! By this stage we
were down to about 3600m above sea level, but it was extremely hard to breathe - the lack of oxygen was a killer!
Then it was time for the real mountain biking! We veered off the bitumen onto the original highway to Coroico which is all of a one way goat track. We had waterfalls over the road, landslides, muddy patches, lots of rocks, two pretty deep creek crossings, and plenty of downhill speed - making for a very fast and bumpy ride! We even survived the 1km of tight corners known as the Death Trail. Its pretty scary as the road is only wide enough for one car, the drop off is about 600m (at maximum), there is nothing remotely resembling a guard rail, and every now and then a car might come along. But it was FUN!
We rode the gravel for about another 30 kms, and finally finished near Coroico at about 1200m above sea level. The difference in temperature was amazing - we went from freezing cold to beautiful warmth and a swim in the hotel pool. More importantly, we could actually breathe properly again!
There was only one stumble for the team
for the day, and this was only 10 minutes from the end. The girl involved took a few minutes and then decided there was no way she could finish the day in the van, so she hopped back on her bike and did it properly. Great stuff. We had an absolutely awesome day and would definitely recommend it!
Our last day in La Paz was very relaxed - wandering, doing jobs, and resting in preparation for another (predictably) horrid night bus to Uyuni, the next stage of our Bolivian adventure.
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