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Published: October 4th 2012
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30
thSeptember – La Paz
La Paz is the seat of government in Bolivia and is also known as the defacto capital as well. La Paz is built in a canyon created by the Choqueyapu River (now mostly built over), which runs northwest to southeast. The city's main thoroughfare, which roughly follows the river, changes names over its length, but the central tree-lined section running through the downtown core is called the Prado.
The geography of La Paz (in particular the altitude) reflects society: the lower areas of the city are the more affluent areas. While many middle-class residents live in high-rise condos near the center, the houses of the truly affluent are located in the lower neighborhoods southwest of the Prado. And looking up from the center, the surrounding hills are plastered with makeshift brick houses of those less economically fortunate.
Today is Sunday and a cultural activities festival is being held. The street out of the front of the hotel is closed today and everyone has set up stalls and music areas. We started the morning off by walking around the city with our guides. Visited a number of churches, they are just magnificent inside. We also
visited a museum that was once the house of Pedro Domingo Murillo who is remembered as the voice of revolution in South America. We also visited a museum that contained a number of gold incan artifacts. After that we wandered down to the Prado where there were lots of things going on, very colourful and musical. We were taken up to the witches market where we saw dried llama foetuses for sale and lots of other ‘wonderful’ medications. The different communities were in La Paz and all dressed in their traditional clothes and paraded down the streets. After that we just wandered back down the street and got to see a wrestling match between a guy and a woman. The women are called wrestling cholitas. Very put on but good entertainment. Lots of photos.
In the afternoon our guide took us to the affluent part of La Paz by taxi. First taxi ride – 25bolivianos (around $5) for a 20-30minute taxi ride. We ended up in a shoppoing mall which I suppose is considered quite up there in terms of rich and poor. Our guide certainly thinks it is a symbol of the rich. Just confirms that shopping malls
are the same in any country. After that we had a rest and ate dinner at the hotel again – too tired to do anything else. The altitude does get you.
Monday 1
st October – La Paz
Free day today to do what we like so just went looking at shops and visited the Coca Museum. The museum provides a very detailed history on the coca plant and how it has been used over the centuries particularly in producing cocaine. Lazy afternoon as we had dinner at this place where they provided a dinner and show. Show was great with all the different costumes on display but the food not so and ridiculously overpriced. Anyway, what I ate for dinner didn’t agree with me as I was sick as anything that night and the next morning. Made for a great plane ride to Lima. 6hr wait before next plane ride to Santiago but slept for the whole trip and feel okay now. Got to Santiago at 6.15am and currently waiting for plane to Sydney, only 2hrs to go.
It’s been a great holiday spent with some great people. I believe we all had a fantastic
time.
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