Wednesday: After an overnight bus trip from Uyuni , we arrived in La Paz at 6:00 am. Sound proofing in the hotel is not very good so Marcus & Deb heard us arrive. It was very exciting to see them and we chatted non-stop over an early breakfast.
We then organised some laundry as the previous days had made our clothes very dusty.
We then went on a relaxed stroll around the central part of La Paz. The whole central region is one enormous street market (very narrow streets!) with every conceivable thing on sale. Our first stop was the Witches’ Market where magic potions for every possible ailment can be found. Amongst the potions was a remedy for sickness using llama foetuses. The street markets are mostly run by cholas (indigenous women) and they are usually brightly dressed with large pleated skirts and wearing Charlie Chaplin hats.
Corinne bought an Inca silver pendant with inlaid enamel and a small silver llama. Alpaca jumpers are a specialty and are comparatively cheap and come in a huge variety of colours and styles. Jak is looking out for one!
We wandered over to the central square where the official government offices and the cathedral form the perimeter. The parliament building is most impressive and the guards outside the main entrance didn’t object being photographed.
At 6.00 pm we had our final meeting with our guide Vlad who then headed off in preparation for his next group. We all dined at a very plush restaurant just along the street from our hotel. It was a very different setting from the camping style meals we’ve survived on recently.
Thursday: Marcus and five others left at 6.30 am to do a mountain bike ride down the “most dangerous road in the world”. We joined two others in our group at 9.00 am to do a city tour which lasted for 4 hours. Our driver Marcello was very informative and drove us through the narrow markets streets and then up to a lookout point from where the view of the lower city was very impressive. The city centre lies at 3600m in a natural canyon with the surrounding steep hills being crammed with orange brick buildings. The prominent snow capped mountain Illimani (6490 m) is a difficult and popular climb but has claimed many lives. Our city tour then took us through La Florida the most expensive part of La Paz and on to the Valley of the Moon. This is an area of strangely eroded rock that forms a grotto of narrow pathways and weird pillars. Neil Armstrong reputedly gave this area its name when he visited La Paz in the early 1970s. At the Valley of the Moon there was a busker playing a traditional Bolivian flute called a quina and he had several for sale. We bought one for 100 Bolivianos. This La Florida affluent area is the only place in La Paz where there is a Country Club and a golf course. The golf course is reputedly the highest in the world at 3400m and has eucalypts growing along the fairways.
After lunch we visited the cathedral museum and then strolled through the market streets observing the chaotic world of commerce in La Paz.