Blogs from La Paz, La Paz Department, Bolivia, South America - page 132

arrgh, La Paz. What can I say about this place? Well, not a whole lot of good, actually. Most countries make landfills out of valleys, but Bolivia sticks it´s unoficial capital in one. But maybe that´s the best way to describe La Paz - a landfill. It´s really a collection of houses perched on the sides of the valley, which are bland unfinished brick, crammed together, exactly like the favalas in Rio, surrounding a city centre from hell, which is full of smelly taxi vans, beggers, a heap of people, and terminates at an open sewer. So, if you´re in the city centre and are feeling costrophopic from the crush of people and the tall ugly 70s and 80s skyscrapers, and you look to the horrizon of some air or light, you´re drowned by the bland ... read more

I’m now in Bolivia! I arrived at the airport at El Alto in the dead of night and got a taxi to my pre-booked hotel in La Paz. I can only describe the location as stunning! El Alto is a city of 800,000 people perched on a plain above the city of La Paz. La Paz is in a giant hollow below. Bolivia is poorer than Ecuador and it shows. The streets of El Alto were dark and scruffy. The taxi driver drove a battered old car and got very close to any pedestrians who happened to cross the road (and there were rather a lot of them around even at that time of night!). As we reached the border of El Alto and La Paz an amazing view appeared with lights from buildings showing the ... read more

The worlds most dangerous road runs from La Paz to Coroico. It is only 70km long, but in one year 351 people were killed on it. On average 20 vehicles plumit over its shear edge every year. That number probably does not include foolish tourists on mountain bikes. Theres one bend where 9 tourists and 1 guide have met their maker. The road is lined with crosses and monuments to those who have perished. Anyway, having built it up, you'll be delighted to know that I survived. Thats despite the best efforts of mother nature which sent unseasonal rain storms - turning the normally dusty & rocky surface into a slippery nightmare. ... read more

Ahojte vsetci, tak a sme v La Paze....O 3-tej rano sme prisli do Orura kde sme prestupovali o 4:30 na bus do La Pazu.....ako kazdy bus v Bolivii aj v tomto bolo ako v chladnicke....konecne sme o 8:00 dorazili na hlavny bus terminal v La Paze a vzali si taxi do hostelu. La Paz je najvyssie polozene hlavne mesto na svete, lezi vo vyske 3660 m.n.m a ma okolo 1,5 mil. obyvatelov. Mesto sa tiahne 5 km dlhym udolim pod vecne zasnezenou horou Illimani . Cez den je tu okolo 15 - 18 stupnov, v noci pod nulou. Sme poriadne unaveni po celonocnej ceste z Uyuni tak sme si do obeda trochu zdriemli a potom vyrazili do mesta. V meste sme zasli na obed, dali sme si jednu z bolivijskych specialit La Pico Macho....hm..pikantne ale chutne.... ... read more

For those thinking of doing the death road biking trip, check the end of this blog for helpful (I hope) advice! Well our plans are never quite set in stone are they? Our plans for La Paz have proved no different to any others - We planned 5-10 days of Spanish lessons here, but the fact that I got explosive diahorrea and vomiting from some really bad (well, it was good...) street food put us off that for a couple of days, and then Laura came down with something. Also the altitude here is sickening, and not fun to move around too much, coupled with the fact that La Paz is terribly polluted (something to do with the mountains trapping in all the bad stuff - ask Tim or Lucy about it, they're bound to know)... ... read more