Blogs from La Paz Department, Bolivia, South America - page 20

freitag, der 13. und wir haben vor am höchsten internationalen flughafen der welt zu landen! die flugzeuge brauchen angeblich sogar eigene reifen für la paz! in wunderbarer vormittagswärme fröhnen wir unserem offenbar neuen hobby: wir besuchen den friedhof sucres. unsere makabre vorliebe für südamerikanische friedhöfe ist vielleicht damit zu erklären, wie bunt und “lebendig” hier alles scheint. in so krassem gegensatz zu europa! die gräber in form von kleinen mausoleen und auch nur kleinen fenstern in betonwänden oder mini-häuschen, ähnlich den unsrigen, liegen malerisch zwischen palmen und blühenden sträuchern. strickende omis und vergnügt quietschende kleinkinder sind in den gepflegten alleen anzutreffen. fast jedes fenster-grab enthält ein kleines glas mit wasser, einen krug, cola- oder fanta-flaschen in mini-format. manchmal auch schokolade oder ander dinge, die der verstorbene gern... read more

We'd been told to get there early. But the line was still long. Everyone wanted to try it. Where there's a queue in Bolivia there are vendors. Men, women and teenagers paced and hawked. Ice-cream men did a roaring trade, pushing hand-carts, and handing out cones. Ball-point pens seemed to be the hot item of the moment. 'Boligrafas, uno peseto', shouted a man holding out a display of splayed biros in his hand. Curious. The line moved forward, past road-side 'tiendas', crammed with bottles of soft-drink, sweets and toilet rolls. People ate at hamburger stands under sun umbrellas. There were chocolates on sticks and toffee apples; comic books and toy areoplanes. All the fun of the fair. La Paz had just got a new ride, a brand new cable car. This was a try-out. For free. ... read more

****SPOILER ALERT**** La Paz may be our least favourite spot we have yet to ever visit. ever. don´t go. As much as I would have liked to have kept a better track of putting up posts, taking photos, and journaling, the last six days have been a solid testament to our patience. Perhaps, the last week was a gift from somewhere, to teach us this patience. To say it has been a long, long six days is an understatement. Shall we begin? I should start off by saying that although this city now has left a terribly unfortuante taste in our mouths, there have been a few lovely moments, and several incredibly helpful and kind people. Yet overall, bad taste. Our luggage took three days to arrive, thank god we had booked a nice, PRIVATE, room ... read more

Hola from Bolivia! I took the bus from Puno,in Peru, to Cococabana in Bolivia and then jumped on another bus to La Paz. When I got to the bus station in Puno, I was told my bus ticket hadn´t arrived at the office so I was waiting- with five minutes until my bus departed- for my ticket. Thankfully, someone delivered it on time and I was on time for the bus. When I got on the bus, however, someone was in my seat and seemed to take forever for someone to sort it. I was finally given a seat and had no one next to me so I could spread out :) On the way to Cococabana, I had to cross the boarder. It was pretty much straight forward. I had to see the police on ... read more

My journey to La Paz nearly didn´t happen. I´d opted to fly - it was very cheap and would save me a full day on the bus. I'd also been told that La Paz was a great city to see from the air. I got to Sucre´s small, provincial airport in plenty of time and checked in for my flight. Naively I asumed that my flight would appear in due course on the flight departure board (other flights did). With about 20 minutes to go to take off and still no news of my flight I checked with the check in desk and quickly learnt the error of my ways. I rushed through the security checks in time to make the final boarding call. Once airbourne I was able to enjoy Bolivia unfolding beneath me - ... read more