La Paz Bolivia (Day 1)

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Day 58 Another 5.30 am alarm to get to the local bus station for a 7 hr trip to La Paz including 1 hr to clear border formalities at Desaguadero On the Peru /Bolivian border. With a full bus most of our group got upgraded to first class & brightened the mood considering the early start. The ride itself was great as it was a very scenic leg of the trip although the bus itself was having a few problems & the air conditioning was not working properly.

Leaving Puno we followed Lake Titicaca shimmering in the bright early sun before briefly loosing sight as the road moved away from the coast before reappearing and remaining in view all the way to & over the Bolivian border. Without seeing it it's hard to describe how enormous and beautiful Lake Titicaca is & being fresh water how important it is to the many communities along its shore.

The border crossing at Desaguadero was chaotic with street vendors taking over the sides of the road, people wandering all over the place & numerous cyclos weaving in & out of parked busses & numerous near misses with pedestrians. These cyclos were carrying local passengers or produce & seemingly crossing the border with ease & no apparent check. Both sides of the border around Desaguadero were very ugly & we were happy to move on to La Paz after clearing formalities in about an hour. The Bolivian side is much more rural with very high snow capped mountains in the far distance.

After a slow start on entering Peru at the North Coast we are leaving the country with many memories. From the time we moved to the highlands at Arequipa each day has been a new wonderful experience.

Arriving in La Paz we were met by our guide to do an orientation of the colonial heart of the city so we can plan the rest of our stay in the city. We arrived at the northern end of La Paz which is the highest part of the city at over 4000 mtrs & home to all the indigenous citizens & looks down on a sprawling basin where the remaining population of 3 mil live at around 3500 mtrs. It must be the only city in the world where the poor people have the higher views & look down on the wealthy.

La Paz has crazy chaotic traffic & masses of people milling about street vendors & masses of cheap shopping, much of it fake. The city has a wonderful vibrant feel with Spanish colonial architecture along narrow & steep cobblestone streets & should provide endless walking opportunities for the rest of our stay.

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Photos

Stone archway on Taquile Island
View to snow capped mountains in Bolivia

Colonial street in la Paz
Houses jammed in together in the distance