La Paz
Trip Start
Feb 16, 2006
1
11
38
Trip End
Feb 16, 2009
La Paz,
Bolivia
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
The dirty aspect really stood out in La Paz which is the only city I visited in Bolivia so shouldnt really generalize on the whole country. The streets smelt, were full of rubbish, and were filled with beggars. From such a poor country though I didnt expect too much. The people appeared rude and pushy and didnt really have the time of day for gringos, which I can totally respect as the Bolivians are struggling to make ends meet each day and here are a bunch of sunny little aussies eating in one day what they would in a week.
La Paz is nestled in a valley in the mountains at 3,650 meters and is said to be the highest capital city in the world (which isnt quite right as its not a capital city)
Almost home with a face full of dirt
. On our approach to the city on the southern ridge I caught my first glance of the massive dense layout of the city. The walls of the valley were just lined with all sorts of churches, buildings and houses it was amazing. They layout of the city makes it very easy to find your way around. There is one main avenue at the bottom of the valley so if you ever get lost walking around all you need to do is follow one of the little streets to the bottom and work out where you are. The layout also makes for some very hard work over the first couple of days. Being at an altitude above 3000 meters makes a mere walk down to the local shop feel like a climb to Everest base camp and you can find yourself holding up a building on the sidewalk for up to 5 minutes just to catch your breath.
The boys and I took a bus tour of the city which was a good way to learn some history of the city and see how people lived out in the suburbs. The tour only cost $9AU for a big glass windowed double decker and went for about 2 hours through the suburbs and luna valley then 2 hours around the city and up to a lookout. As we cruised the city people would literally drop what they were doing and stare at the silly little people in the moving fish bowl. It was well amusing.
On the majority of the smaller streets well pretty much every street the power cabling was strung awfully low so that it would actually scrap down the top of the open aired bus where we were sitting
Are you looking at me.
. A number of close decapitations occurred to our delight. Probably best to listen to the guide next time and keep out mittens and noggins inside the bus.On my 2nd last day in Bolivia I went mountain biking down a road known as Death Road. The road has claimed that name due to at least one bus or truck going off the edge killing most passengers nearly every month.
The tour takes you about 45 minutes out of La Paz and into some incredible mountains. The ride starts at about 4700 meters and winds its way down to the way down to the warm jungle. When we arrived in the van there was nearly no visibility it was raining and sleeting but it all just added to the excitement. The ride is done over around 94kms which is about the distance from Canberra to Braidwood (hello sore bum). The majority of the ride is downhill which is sweet but there is about 40 minutes of a slight incline that tears the walls of your lungs out its hard work at altitude. The 1st half of the ride is down asphalt which is really cool as you can get some top speeds up. The 2nd half is where the death road actually begins and you quickly become aware thats its one lane, there are massive 200 meter drops of the sides of the roads with no railings and there are 40 seater buses, trucks and vans hooning past you leaving a thick cloud of dust which is hard to navigate through.
The backdrop for the ride is second to none. Massive snow capped mountains eventually give way to smaller jungle inhabited mountains with huge waterfalls some which cover the road you ride down. The ride ended at a 5 star hotel where you can shower then eat a well earned buffet lunch. Boy did I eat. On the way back up death road in the van our tour guide thought it was a good time to tell us that just one week earlier a tourist had ridden strait off the edge plunging 180 meters
Around La Paz
. Fortunately he survived with only a broken wrist (NUTS). It was just after this conversation that we turned a blind corner on the one way dirt road to nearly be pummeled head on by a bus there was about 30 centermeters between us and the windscreen of the bus. We would surely have been driven off the edge. What is it with us and buses.Overall Bolivia was short but inspiring. From being stuck in La Paz for a few days and not wanting to return to being put out in such an amazing environment I will definitely be back to explore.
On to Cuzco...
PS sorry for the spelling the computer wont allow the spell checker. :0)
