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Published: June 23rd 2010
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Following our trip through the Salt flats and the Atacama desert, and both before and after our trip into the Amazon Basin, we based ourselves in the Bolivian capital of La Paz. La Paz is set on the edge of the altiplano (the really high bit in Bolivia, Peru, and northern Argentina) and is the highest (and I think hilliest) capital city in the world at 3,600m or 12,000 feet. You really can feel it when you are walking around the incredibly steep streets or even just trying to digest a big meal…
We made one big mistake when we moved to La Paz, being that we took a recommendation for the hostel we stayed in from a website that is predominantly commented on by 12 year olds, or more accurately 18 and 19 year olds who’s main focus is on how many varieties of drinks and drugs are available and how many members of the opposite sex (or same I suppose) are “up for it”… The hostel was called the wild rover and the main feature of the place was the “Irish” pub at it’s heart. Now whilst normally I wouldn’t complain about having a pub at my doorstep,
I think I am now a bit old to compete with the youngsters just out of school in a how cool am I competition… We did run into some friends that we met in Chile however and proceeded to make the most of our situation! As standard on this trip, Catherine led from the front with the drinking - and the resultant hurting!!
Our first stint in La Paz lasted for 4 nights and was predominately spent planning our trip into the Jungle and waiting for Catherine to get over her 3rd stomach bug of the trip. We were still acclimatising at this point too, so everything was happening very slowly. This fitted in very well with the locals who seem to do everything at a snails pace, except for driving. The number of times we got honked at for crossing on a green light was ridiculous. Road rules, traffic lights and even the traffic police are only in place as a general guide for motorists and are rarely complied with. Vans would stop in the middle of the road to pick up passengers creating a massive jam with mass honking from others, and then proceed to honk at
the car in front of them once they were ready to move. Mental is the only way to describe it.
I would have to say that the highlight of La Paz for me was the flight back in from the Jungle. Due to the fact that we had to very quickly fly up from about 500m over (or between) a serious mountain range to get to the city, we encountered significant turbulence. Our little 18 seater was jumping and sliding all over the place. It was like the best rollercoaster ever! And the ride was made even better by the local lady sitting 2 seats in front of us who was freaking out, waving her arms everywhere and abusing her husband who was trying to calm her down. Priceless!
On our return to La Paz, we stayed another 4 nights during which time we did a fair bit of shopping in both the tourist and local areas. Health and Safety is obviously not a big thing in Bolivia. We saw old men carrying whole fridges and even chest freezers on their backs whilst walking up and down 30 degree hills…
The other highlight of this trip was
riding the “worlds most dangerous road” starting at 4,200m and descending to under 1,000m. Those of you that watch Top Gear may have seen them drive this road, and it is in fact as narrow and the drops as sheer and sudden as the show made out. Luckily for us though, there is a new road that the majority of cars use meaning that we only passed a handful of vehicles and spent most of the time looking at the scenery, or in my case thinking that Catherine’s mum wouldn’t be too happy to see just how close to the edge she was riding (10cm at times) with the excuse that it was smoother on that bit…. I accepted the relative safety of the rougher bits myself… All in all, this was a brilliant ride with the scenery changing constantly. Would recommend it to anyone who isn’t afraid of heights.
We had some great pictures and videos of the road, the crazy driving, the locals in their traditional dress and the local markets however on our last day in La Paz, Catherine had sand thrown in her face and whilst trying to get it out of her eyes, the
camera was taken out of her (securely zipped up) pocket. But on a positive, it meant we could by ourselves a nice new camera…. Thank god for the electronic black market!
Next installment to follow soon!
Aaron and Catherine.
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Chris & Merel van Oosten
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Nice story!
Hi guys! How are you? Nice story, and it's a shame we didn't meet after La Paz again.... We're looking forward to see you in Brisbane.... so nice if we can have a beer (or capirinha) with you guys! Big hug, Chris and Merel