Days 70-71: La Paz, Bolivia

Dan and I opted to take a speedy 40 minute flight (rather than the 12 hour bus ride) from Sucrez to La Paz on Thursday evening. From the air, it looked like Bolivia's capital city sat atop a steep plateau. 

After landing in what we later learned is the highest airport in the world, we took a taxi to our hotel. 

As we drove through the city, we could see that the city had a harmonious chaos to it; the people, streets, and even telephone wires seemed to flow in every direction. 

Surprisingly, it took us longer to get from the airport to our hotel than from Sucre to La Paz. Our first night in the city, we had a quiet dinner, then took advantage of the fact that we had upgraded ourselves to a hotel by lounging in our room for the evening.

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The following day, we met back up with our Italian friend, Stefano, and our Australian friends, Shari and Andrew. Together, we walked through the streets of the city. First, we went to a "witch" market, where many unusual odds and ends could be found. One constant piece of merchandise was llama fetuses. We were told they are often used as sacrificial offerings when new buildings are constructed. Even if a contractor doesn't feel the need to do this, the people working for him often believe in this ritual, and might refuse to work if he doesn't give this sacrifice.

After our trip through that market, we went to get lunch in a "mall." In reality, it was an unusual labyrinth of walkways with dozens of mini restaurants that looked like they were situated behind garage doors. As we walked passed each entrance, the female cooks would try to lure us in to eat their food. The spaces were so tiny that it took us a while to find one that could house all five of us. Finally, we sat down to a two-course meal (soup and entree of choice) for the equivalent of two US dollars. If it wasn't already clear, Bolivia is kind of a cheap country.

Once we finished lunch, We signed up for a bike excursion for the following day. Then, we walked through more food and clothing markets, which, once again, were all run by women; we never managed to solve the mystery of what the men did all day. 

At night, our group met up for dinner at a Cuban restaurant that had live music. While there, we even managed to coax Stefano into playing a few songs for the crowd. After dinner, we retreated home to prepare for our big adventure that would begin the next morning.