The Hidden Valley City - La Paz

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It was only 3 hours by bus from Oruru to La Paz. Nothing prepares you for the surprise once you drop from the Altiplato down into a valley which is La Paz, 1.5 million clinging onto the sides of the canyon. 20mins down into the heart of the city we took a taxi to an area called Rosaria where our hostel the Cruz de la Andes was. Our room had a fantastic mural but the showers and room were very cold, otherwise a really good place. First stop, the Witches Market to buy some warm Alpaca jerseys.
When we were there it was cool with thundery showers,which ran off the streets into goodness knows where. Two days after we left there was a landslide and others were drowned locally. The problem is that with such a large catchment area in the valley and houses perched on every available space it makes for a bad situation when ther is alot of water around. But I still got burnt when the sun was out,the altitude! We never saw so many Bolivian pigeons than in the Plaza. One of the best places to get a good view of La Paz is Parque Laikakota as well as the San Fransican Cathedral. We spent our time walking around the streets getting afeel for the city,as we only had a short time here,whilst trying not to get ourselves too isolated small street wise. But what a buzz there is here and a change yet again from the countryside.

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