For once, we had not heard any horror stories from other travellers about this capital city, and indeed we felt perfectly safe there and not at all intimidated. There had been a history, particularly in the 90s, of taxi crime, so we were a little cautious of taxis, but the historic centre was quite easy to walk around and the metro system was cheap (cheapest in the world at P$2 or US$0.20 a ride) and easy to use. We had booked ahead with the Hotel Isabel, knowing it was quite popular with foreigners. A beautiful old building, our room was huge with an entrance hall with french doors, old furniture, very high ceilings, a balcony, and a big shiny new bathroom. And it was a bargain for P$320 a night. We were worried it might be
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