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Published: January 14th 2009
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La Paz
City streets Hello again. You must be surprised to be getting regular updates mustn't you? Well herer's another, fresh off the press. But enough with the intro, lets just get going.
So, I'd heard that minibuses from Copacabana to La Paz were slightly dodgy, and thus had booked a big bus for the journey. Imagine my surprise when in the morning I'm told the big bus is full, so therefore I have to go in a minibus. Despite being tempted to skip it, I took the plunge, and was very glad I did, as it was a very safe journey, and I was sat next to a very nice Bolivian, who was only too happy to let me practise my Spanish on them. There was also quite a cool crossing over Titicaca, where we all had to get off our bus, and onto a boat, while our bus went across on another one. Apparently this is because the larger boats aren't that safe, so they can't have people on them. Which is nice to know when all my stuff was still stuck on one of them.
I went for a bit of a kip after the boat crossing, so when I
Death Road
At the top woke up in a hectic city, I just assumed it was La Paz. But instead, this was El Alto, which started life as a suburb of La Paz up on the hill, but has now grown to be a huge city in its own rights. Soon though, we descended into the bowl that contains La Paz, and it really is a visually impressive city as you drive down into it.
After finding a hostel, and having some lunch, I went for a bit of a wander. By now, I'm kind of used to Latin American driving, but still, trying to navigate La Paz is a bit of a mission. Every time I successfully cross a road I feel the need to thank someone up above for their guidance. Or rather, I should thank the Bolivian I've followed across. Always thinking I am.
I really like La Paz though. As I wrote this, I was coming up for my 9th night in the city, although I did have a bit of a break in the middle for a spot of mountain climbing, but I'll tell you about that another time. Unlike places like Cusco, which seemed to exist nowadays
solely for tourism, La Paz is a functioning city, and I've spent many an hour whiling away the time just watching people go about their business. It does help that you can get 2 pints of delicious fruit smoothies for 50p to drink while you while away the time though. I think I'm becoming a bit of an addict. Still, better getting addicted to fruit smoothies than La Paz's most famous export I suppose.
One of the most bizarre things in the city has to be the witchcraft market. There are a collection of shops which all contain various good luck fortunes. Some of these are fairly normal (ish), but the most popular one is a dead llama foetus, which apparently brings good fortune to a household if it is buried underneath. My parents should be very glad that postage costs were high, otherwise they could have received a very different Xmas present!
Of course, while in La Paz, it is essential to take on The World´s Most Dangerous Road (TM). Once the site of hundreds of people plunging to their deaths, it is now the site of hundreds of tourists a day freewheeling down on hired bikes.
It's an unpaved road, with 300m sheer drops off the side with no safety barriers, and despite the rough terrain, we got up some pretty good speed. However, I didn't really feel in danger apart from once when I was admiring the scenery, then realised that if I didnt break sharpish I'd become part of it. The Death Road didn't live up to it's name though, as I am still alive now. Perhaps I should have asked for some money back on grounds of false advertising.
And thats about it for La Paz part one. Tales of Mountain Climbing and fake WWE wrestling are awaiting you in parts 2 and 3.
Stewart
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