Day 58 - La Paz, Bolivia

Woke up to a gorgeous view and weather after a very good nights sleep. A full 12 hours in a damn comfy bed. Well needed. Our breathing is getting a bit better when we wake up although we are both massively dehydrated polishing off a good 3 liters of water between us since last night. 

First stop today is plaza del admin - Sorting bus tickets to Copacabana for tomorrow. This turns out to be a lot easier said than done! The bus "station" is the other side of town by the famous cemetery. We get dropped off at the "station" which isn't a station at all, just a few buses, mostly minibuses pulled up on the side of a tiny busy street and a few guys trying to sell tickets. After walking around for a while to try to find this illusive bus station we resign ourselves to the fact that this is probably it and buy a couple of tickets for the one bus that is there. Bargain price of £3 each for a 4 hour ride tomorrow. 

We then head to one of the most famous landmarks in La Paz, San Francisco Catherdral. We poke our heads inside. Looks like a Catherdral. 

We then have a walk around the surrounding streets, Sagarnaga street and Santa Cruz which are La Paz's main tourist strip. 

It is also home to the Witches Market where all manner of odd witch craft materials – pagan charms, powders and potions galore are sold. Amongst the oddities were dried llama and llama fetuses – these are supposed to bring good luck if placed under the foundations of your house! They look pretty horrible. 

Another thing that struck us whilst we wandered around town was the prevalence of traditionally dressed Bolivian women called 'cholas'. The widely recognised traditional dress consists of a blouse, a dress with many layers of petticoats, called a pollera, an apron and a carefully balanced bowler hat. They all wear their hair long, parted in the middle and weaved into two long plaits. Sneaky pics of them... 

Oh and by the way. They are all the size of tanks. It's do funny seeing here huge women's wobbling down the streets. You wouldn't want to get in the way of them!

After we head towards Casilla Jaen, which is one of the few places in the city with preserved colonial buildings. It's a nice street but we were expecting more. It's not much better than Leverton Street around the corner from there we live! 

We meander trough the steets to Plaza Murillo which contains the countries main government buildings and the city cathedral. (La Paz is only the administrative capital of Bolivia. Sucre is the legislative capital). 

Next up we head to the ominously named Mirador Killi Killi for fantastic views of the city. Luckily there was no Killi Killi today. Definitely the best view of La Paz from here. 

Great panoramic view. 

We also get a good view of the country’s largest sports arena from here called the Estadio Hernando Siles Zuazo stadium. At 3637m above sea level, it’s one of the highest stadiums in the world. Needless to say, at these oxygen deprived heights, most international football games played in the stadium are won by the homeside. At these heights even the Brazilians and Argentines struggle to beat Bolivia. In fact the disadvantage was so apparent that in 2007 FIFA declared no World Cup qualifiers would be played above 2500m!

The walk back down. 

Cool clouds over the mountain. No wonder we have been struggling to see the famous three peaks so far. They are hidden behind this cloud. 

It's not until later we see them although this is a crap picture. 

That afternoon I go for a great workout in one of the best gyms I have been in. I definitely stumble across where all the beautiful cool kids hang out! A good work out surprisingly ends up helping with the breathlessness as I feel great after. Didn't attempt a run though. Or the mental spinning class that was going on for that matter!

That evening Nat manages to find us a nice little restaurant called Casona. Now this may seem easy but in La Paz this is no easy task. There are such a paucity of restaurants and bars it's crazy! We walked around most of the day and do not stumble across one restaurant, bar or even cafe that looks even remotely nice to go in. The night life here sucks! 

Nat chooses better than me. She goes for the Lake Titicaca trout whilst I opt for the Llama (the round flat thing!) which I can't even describe the texture and taste. Pretty rubbery and not the most tasty. Ok though. Still ate it obviously. 

Final thoughts - you may think from the pics above that La Paz is a great place to visit but it's not that great and we certainly won't be rushing back. The scenary is amazing but apart from that there isn't much going on here especially in terms of night life, not surprising as Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. It's great to have seen it but one day here is all you need. Also all the guide book warnings about express kidnappings and violent muggings tend to naturally put you on edge a little which takes the fun out of the place a bit. That said everyone we have met has been really friendly and we have had no problems. Looking forward to moving on to Copacabana tomorrow. 

On a brighter note - Some interesting facts about La Paz

- It has the world's highest international airport, at 13,313 ft/4,058 m above sea level, it's almost half as high as a jetliner's cruising altitude

- Takeoffs require a longer runway due to the thin air. 

- Rice takes longer to cook up here due to the altitude. 

- Fizzy drinks are fizzier