La Paz

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Crossing over the border from Peru to Bolivia was completely painless, a very relaxed affair, even the guards on duty were standing around drinking smoothies with a dog lying sleeping at their feet. Once on the Bolivian side there were dogs and donkeys everywhere! We were heading to La Paz , Bolivia's admin capital and the highest capital in the world. Before reaching La Paz itself we had to go through El Alto, a city on the doorstep. The two cities are world's apart, the general rule of thumb however is the richer you are the lower down the valley you live, the poverty in El Alto was shockingly evident. Some of the Bolivian women wear a very distinct type of outfit - pleated skirts, blouses and jackets or shawls with an apron over the top and a hard bowler type hat. On first impressions La Paz is a sprawling city choked with traffic. From here we took a day trip to an archaeological site called Tiwanaku, a civilisation pre-dating the Incas. This was a society who perfected their agricultural techniques and produced great yields. Their trick was to dig channels to both irrigate the terraces and, as the water was heated by the sun during the day, act as an insulator against night frosts. There is also evidence that they performed brain surgery with 65% of patients living a further 2 years! Back in La Paz we took a stroll through the Mercado de los Brujas aka the Witches' Market where disgustingly llama feotuses hung everywhere, that was the extent of the weirdness however for the most part it was just stalls selling souvenirs. Alpaca jumper, anyone?

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