The Birthday City...
Ah La Paz, La Paz, La Paz...
As with most travel, there is always a sense of anticipation, of what a place will be like, what there will be to do, what it will look like etc. My mental image of the city of La Paz, having first visited the not so lovely Lima in Peru, was of a city that was dirty, smoggy, very very crowded, and really not that an exciting place to hang out in. Boy was I wrong...
The entry into the city of La Paz is really nothing to write home about. As the city has grown, there has been a number of settlements that have sprung up on the outskirts of the canyon, which are dirty, dusty, very humble, with buildings looking as if they are on their last bricks. It looked as many Bolvian towns do, and not overly inviting.
However, the actual city of La Paz is located in a huge canyon, and as you arrive, you have to take the roads that snake their way into the canyon. It is an amazing sight, with the city reaching up to the top edges of the canyon, filling in as much developable space as physically possible. I was quite gob-smacked by the amount of buildings built into what appeared to be almost vertical.
We got ourselves into the centre of the city (our bus was a cheap on, so took a different route into town, avoiding toll gates and therefore didn´t drop us in town). We then trudged up the hill (puffing with out packs on) to Hotel Torino and got a room for the next few nights. The man behind the counter kept laughing at our Spanish attempts, but was nice enough (and he kept laughing until we left). The first night was spent finding a laundromat (pongy clothes are not fun) and somewhere to eat. We ended up at a really nice pizza place (distinct lack of Bolivian cuisine in La Paz that is easy to find), then headed home for a good night´s sleep.
Day two (16/1) we explored the city, finding the gringo market (area aimed purely at tourists), then the Witches Market (anyone fancy a dried llama fetus???), before finding a tour agency where we could book our trip south to Uyuni and then on the tour of the Salar. We found a nice place with a girl who spoke English, and was very helpful.
Day three (17/1)was supposed to be the day we went mountain biking up in the hills, however after getting up really early, and then waiting nearly an hour, we received a call to say that there was mechanical failure, and they wouldn´t be coming. A real bummer, as we were looking forward to getting out and about. We had intended to do the Death Road, but the tour operators were on strike and we couldn´t do it. So we spent the day walking around and then took a tour of the city in the afternoon. It was a nice enough day.
Day four (18/1) was my birthday. Fantastic day. Had llama steak for dinner - yum.
Anyway, this is a hard computer to type at and I am getting RSI, so will sign off till later...
F
As with most travel, there is always a sense of anticipation, of what a place will be like, what there will be to do, what it will look like etc. My mental image of the city of La Paz, having first visited the not so lovely Lima in Peru, was of a city that was dirty, smoggy, very very crowded, and really not that an exciting place to hang out in. Boy was I wrong...
The entry into the city of La Paz is really nothing to write home about. As the city has grown, there has been a number of settlements that have sprung up on the outskirts of the canyon, which are dirty, dusty, very humble, with buildings looking as if they are on their last bricks. It looked as many Bolvian towns do, and not overly inviting.
However, the actual city of La Paz is located in a huge canyon, and as you arrive, you have to take the roads that snake their way into the canyon. It is an amazing sight, with the city reaching up to the top edges of the canyon, filling in as much developable space as physically possible. I was quite gob-smacked by the amount of buildings built into what appeared to be almost vertical.
We got ourselves into the centre of the city (our bus was a cheap on, so took a different route into town, avoiding toll gates and therefore didn´t drop us in town). We then trudged up the hill (puffing with out packs on) to Hotel Torino and got a room for the next few nights. The man behind the counter kept laughing at our Spanish attempts, but was nice enough (and he kept laughing until we left). The first night was spent finding a laundromat (pongy clothes are not fun) and somewhere to eat. We ended up at a really nice pizza place (distinct lack of Bolivian cuisine in La Paz that is easy to find), then headed home for a good night´s sleep.
Day two (16/1) we explored the city, finding the gringo market (area aimed purely at tourists), then the Witches Market (anyone fancy a dried llama fetus???), before finding a tour agency where we could book our trip south to Uyuni and then on the tour of the Salar. We found a nice place with a girl who spoke English, and was very helpful.
Day three (17/1)was supposed to be the day we went mountain biking up in the hills, however after getting up really early, and then waiting nearly an hour, we received a call to say that there was mechanical failure, and they wouldn´t be coming. A real bummer, as we were looking forward to getting out and about. We had intended to do the Death Road, but the tour operators were on strike and we couldn´t do it. So we spent the day walking around and then took a tour of the city in the afternoon. It was a nice enough day.
Day four (18/1) was my birthday. Fantastic day. Had llama steak for dinner - yum.
Anyway, this is a hard computer to type at and I am getting RSI, so will sign off till later...
F
posted by Flossie | 12:04 AM
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