Getting There

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Alright, I made it to La Paz! Got here yesterday at about midnight, after a 24-hour trip from L.A. with a stop over each in San Salvador (El Salvador) and Lima (Peru). I´m totally shaken! It´s all part of my smart travel panning - after all there´s nothing like arriving at a country you´ve never been, where they speak a language you hardly understand, totally exhausted at midnight! LOL

Anyway, I managed to get a taxi ride to one of the only hotels still open at that hour, took a shower (first minute warm, then icy cold) and slept like a baby. After breakfast I slept some more, then decided to move to a hostel. Since it was supposed to be only a few blocks away, I decided to walk - piece of cake, right? Well, not only did it take me ages to find the place but there was a big demonstration going on on one of the roads I had to cross, my backpack was weighing weavily on my shoulders - it is heavier than it has ever been (must be the 2 kilos of chocolate!)- and all that on an elevation of 4,000 meters above sea level. I got to the hostel totally soaked and exhausted.

From what I can tell, La Paz is pretty cool, though. It´s quite scenic with all its hills. The people seem to be nice, they´re much quieter than the Brazilians and don´t bug you as much. The whole city center looks like one giant market and many of the people walk around in traditional clothes. There are shoe shiners at every corner who typically wear some kind of mask that makes them look like bank robbers. I´ve read it´s because they wanna stay anynomous, because of the stigma attached to what they do.

It´s summer here but because of the elevation it´s quite cool. San Salvador on the other hard seemed tropical and warm and Lima, to my surprise, looks like a desert. I always thought Peru was green. I don´t know about the rest of Peru, but Lima definitely wasn´t.

That´s it for now. I don´t think I´ll be of much use for the rest of the day, find something to eat and walk around a bit maybe. I´m planning on staying in La Paz for at least another two days, then head to Cochambaba, which is about 7 hours by bus for here. That´s won´t be my final destination yet, but I´ll write more about that later. Pictues will follow.

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Comments

[vee]

I am glad to here back from you
Keep us posted with all your experiences. I am very interested to read your experiences. Take care Vee

[Martin]

Probably we think Peru is green because the main picture we know from there is Machu Pichu. I think thoses pictures are usually green. Good to hear from you, and good luck with everything!

[Leini]

Yes, you´re totally right, it´s the Machu Pichu pictures that made me think Peru was green :-)