La Paz - The only big city I like

Trip Start Jun 12, 2008

Trip End Nov 19, 2008

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Where I stayed

Angelo Colonial Hostel

(La Paz hotels)

Flag of Bolivia La Paz, Bolivia
Friday, August 15, 2008

We set off from Copacabana excited about the prospect of getting to La Paz and starting our Bolivian advneture for real. It didn't take long for the fun to begin. Firstly we were squeezed into the last two seats at the back of the packed bus, where we shared the back row with 6 others! Great fun! One group of three shared a single seat. Poor things. They didn't seem to mind. The young girl was too distracted by George's blonde locks and Ipod to care too much about the squeeze! Before long we reached a crossing point on the lake. We stopped and were ordered off the bus by the rather camp Bolivian 'navy' guy in full white navy gear. As we got off I wondered what we were to do. We followed the crowd to the water side where we embarked into a little launch that was to take us to the other side. As we boarded we noticed that our bus, bags and all, had made its way onto a huge punt that was to transport it to the other side! It was quite a funny site (photo on George's blog). Anyhow we and the bus made it safely across and we got back aboard

Bolivian bus

. It wasn't long before we were stopped in our tracks again though. This time by a police security check! I guess it is a main smuggling route to and from Peru. Off the bus we got to have our bags and passports checked. The policeman gave my bag a cursory going over and didn't even bother looking at my passport which I nervously had dropped on the floor! George on the other hand was given a thorough going over by the policewoman. Obviously she looked guilty about something, maybe it was the coca toffees in her bag, who knows?!

After that the journey went smoothly, aside from a small diversion cross country due to a street party at a village outside La Paz. I thought at one point the bus was going to tip over. Funny. As we came down the hill towards La Paz I almost gasped as I saw it. Set in a deep valley with snow capped mountains at one end, its red roofed houses sprawling up the sides and the tall skyscrapers set down on the valley floor, it was quite a sight. We jumped into a cab, after assessing whether the cabbies face was trustworthy, and headed to the Angelo Colonial Hostel. This hostel was a recommendation from Tim and Felicity (again of Inca Trail fame) and what a good recommendation it turned out to be. It was by no means plush but it is smack-bang in the centre of La Paz and the rooms are big and filled with antiques. It was quite spooky at night with all the creaking floorboards but at 6 quid a night it was a steal

street market

! Took it easy that evening, went for a stroll to get our bearings and got used to the altitude again.

Saturday morning was the start of the footy season and more importantly we had been informed of an English 'pub' called Oliver's Travels that was likely to be showing the games. Not only that, but they also served a full english breakfast! And, even more comfortingly they sold PG Tips in pints! Ahhhhhhh! What a treat. I was missing such things at this point and George was on the verge of tears when she sipped that first hot sip of the browny beige liquid. MMMMM! It was good. I must say I was impressed with the full english it wasn't half bad and the fact we were in La Paz made it all the more tasty! Anyway we watched the footy (hahahaha Dad and Ben good start from Spurs as usual!) and sipped our tea. Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around and taking it easy.

We were suprised to be woken at 8 the next morning by a succession of brass bands marching past our window. We thought originally that this was Bolivian Brass Band Sunday but have since learnt that it was some kind of rememberance day celebrations. It was quite a sight though and a most enjoyable way to wake up. We headed to Oliver's Travels for another fix of tea (our last in case you are wondering) and a bit more footy. Then we decided to do a walking tour suggested in one of our books. This took in the black market, the witches market and some other street markets. It seemed that on Sunday most of the streets in this area wer given over to markets and the whole palce was packed full of people buying and selling all manner of things. The weirdest of all things on sale, however, was the llama foetuses on sale in the Witches Market. These 'foetuses' ranged in age from very young to quite old developementaly and were not for the squeamish

boliviana

. They are apprently buried in the foundations of new houses and gardens and will bring good fortune to the property. A bit odd. There were also numerous other trinkets, amulets and charms that you could buy to bring you good fortune, health, travels etc. It was an intersting place. We walked on trying to take in the bustling atomosphere without a) spending vast amounts of cash and b)getting pickpocketed (more on that front coming soon!). It was a fun walk. We even bought some hooky binoculars from a stall for a few quid. Thought they may come in handy. The walk ended up in Plaza Murrillo where the parliament and presidential palace are located. It was afun atomosphere with lots of families milling around and kids playing with the pigeons. A week earlier the square had been packed with supporters of the president after he had won the referendum. It would have been quite a sight I think!

Monday we took things very easy and did more wandeering around and watched a bit of folk dance outside the university which was entertaining. That was about it really, probably ate some food. O yes, we ate at a great place called Yussefs. A really nice Lebanese restaurant. Great value meze. mmmmm mmm!

That was it really we were off to Coroico the next morning for a mini holiday. Yeah I know what your thinking, "why on earth does he need a holiday he has been dossing for 2 months", and you would probably be right!