Blogs from La Paz, La Paz Department, Bolivia, South America - page 8

We made our way north to Bolivia's capital of La Paz which is situated at 3,500m and quite frankly not really situated in an appropriate location to house a population of more than a million people. This sprawling city lies in a narrow, bowl-like canyon with ramshackled homes clinging precariously to its steep slopes. With tiny and heavily congested streets we found it a challenge to get around, and in general the architecture and buildings are in a poor state of repair with crumbling and dilapidated facades. The telephone and electrical cables are generally a tangled mess and one wonders if the whole infrastructure will come crashing down if a simple bird decides to land on them for a rest. A positive and original recent improvement to the city has been the addition of a cable ... read more

Nick: Can't....breathe.... That's right folks! We are now in La Paz, capital of Bolivia and located some 3500-ish metres above sea level in the 'altiplano' region of the Andes mountains. At this altitude, there is a good deal less oxygen in the atmosphere, and altitude sickness can be a problem for many visitors who aren't used to the conditions - especially those who have flown in and therefore not had the chance to acclimatise gradually (i.e. us). One of the first sights on arriving in the fairly rudimentary airport is an area set aside for 'medical emergencies', with a large sign offering oxygen therapy! But I exaggerate our own symptoms slightly. We've been here a few hours now and had a wander around the hilly streets, with no significant ill effects, other than a slightly light ... read more

Solo dos días de preparar y trabajar en los detalles de la conferencia. Este evento que habíamos intentado coordinar desde meses antes desde Colombia en el Museo de Etnografía y Folklore (MUSEF) resultó muy bien recibido por los interesados en la arqueología. El día anterior a la conferencia, el primer día sin viaje después del paseo por Argentina y Chile, david tuvo una entrevista en la televisión comunitaria, en una en el canal nacional, patrocinado por el gobierno y con fines comunitarios. La periodista del canal, nos sugirió hablar con Marcos Michel, director de patrimonio del gobierno, él estuvo muy interesado con el tema y nos conecto con la prensa y con Julio Ballibian, director del museo de arqueología de tiwanaku en La Paz. Excelente nuevo amigo con quien entablamos varias buenas conversaciones en torno a ... read more

I went to check in for my flight. I put my passport and walkman on the desk as I had just finished listening to it, when the man at the desk exclaimed in an amazed tone: ‘is that a Discman!?’ Wow I haven’t seen one of those in years.’ In defence of my poor walkman and with very little idea of what to say to such a comment even though I had been asked it several times, I said ‘Yes , it’s jogproof too’ The man was overjoyed. Without further ado, both my ''discman'' and I got safely through passport control, through security and to the departure gate where it rested safely in my hands for the best part of an hour until we both boarded the flight together. The first flight went like a dream. ... read more

As well as preparing for my flight tomorrow, I visited the local San Francisco cathedral museum, which after having passed it several times I felt it was my obligation to learn about it. I arrived just in time to take a tour in Spanish and I joined the tour group. The tour began with the guide describing in detail each one of the series of twelve painted pictures relating to Jesus’ crucifixion. I wasn't interested in this part of the tour, so I took the opportunity to add some new ‘religious’ Spanish vocabulary to my word bank. As the lady went through each picture, testing us to check we were listening and understood the details of the cruxifiction I zoned out and zoned back in again when she mentioned the cock in one of the pictures ... read more