La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz

Llama fetus anyone? It brings good luck!

After 24 hours of traveling, Michael and I arrived safely in La Paz, Bolivia. As we descended into the airport we caught a glimpse of the beautiful mountains surrounding this city and it took our breath away. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the customs line, that breathless feeling became more permanent, less pleasant and even a tad queasy. Trying to learn Spanish and navigate a new city was a bit more challenging given our dizziness and lack of oxygen, but everyone here has been just downright pleasant and helpful. I think we're going to love this country.

I didn't appreciate what it would be like to carry a 42 lb pack (or 50 lb for Michael) uphill through narrow cobblestone streets at nearly the same elevation as the top of Mt. Rainier after living at sea level. It's definitely going to take a few days to acclimate and be ready for any longer trekking. Do you know how many sidewalks-turned-staircases there are in this city? Neither do I. But it is a lot.

La Paz has been a busy and wonderful city to explore for the last two days. For better or for worse, we arrived the morning after Carnival and all was quiet. It started to wake up again last night - I think the city is finally getting over its hangover. There's no end to food options: Italian, Indian, Mexican, Thai, or Pizza. Other than bread and fruit, I'm not sure what "Bolivian" food is, but I think we'll find out when we get to el campo (the countryside). The city is extremely clean. It's not uncommon to see government workers sweeping the sidewalks and shop-owners mopping their stores out. There are public trashcans everywhere that are actually used! I get the sense that the people are very proud of their city.

There's a strong llama presence. Well, not actual llamas, but lots of llama meat, alpaca sweaters and hats, and um... dried llama fetuses. Apparently llama fetuses bring good luck if you bury them under your house. I think I'll take my chances.

Michael and I spent the last two days exploring La Paz and talking with tour agencies about what to do. We spent a long time talking with an older climber, now manager of a trekking/climbing company. His words (paraphrased): "Bolivia is the perfect place for climbing, except there are no roads and no maps." Excellent.

We decided to find the best lookout over La Paz for sunset yesterday evening, which took us across a huge walker's bridge (over a bike path and a separate jogging path) that overlooks the valley, through a really nice playground/park where the sun came out and ice cream was aplenty, and finally up a gazillion flights of stairs to the top perch over the city, right in time for sunset. It was absolutely beautiful.  Michael and his camera got some solid quality time together at the lookout.

The city-scape's central feature, of course, was the ongoing futbol (soccer) game, which I convinced Michael we HAD to go to. We made our way there thinking we'd be in time for the second half and then have a late dinner. Hungry and unable to wait, Michael gravitated toward a delicious smelling food stand with potatoes and meat cooking. I asked the lady what kind of meat it was only to discover it was, indeed, llama heart. Michael eagerly bought one and enjoyed every last bite, although he was still chewing the meat some 20-30 minutes later (turns out llama heart is somewhat similar to gum). When did I become the picky eater?

The soccer game was packed - it was La Paz vs. Bolivia. "Viva Bolivia" was a frequent chant, along with the Wave, and children walked around with gas containers yelling "cafe caliente! - hot coffee!" I was surprised by the number of police and pets present and the lack of alcohol. Apparently pride and coffee alone bring enough enthusiasm. It was all well and good until half-time when we decided to take off and find
some dinner (about 8:30pm), only to discover the gates were locked and no one was allowed out. We stood with a mass of wailing mothers and babies crying "Queremos salir! - we want to leave!" for over half an hour wondering what on earth we had gotten ourselves into. Apparently we were expected to watch the acrobatic half-time show; about 5 minutes into the second half they finally opened one door of one exit, and we funneled ourselves out with the mass of people out, trying not to trample small children underfoot. With a sigh of relief, we found a restaurant still open and made our way to our hotel.

After exploring our various options, we've decided to ditch the cold for the jungle first. We could either take a bus that, best case scenario, would take 18 hours (more likely 3 days due to flooded roads), or a 45 minute flight to Rurrenabaque in the Amazon Basin. We opted for the flight, and we leave this afternoon. Tomorrow we begin our jungle tour and then plan to hang out a few more days in Rurrenabaque before returning to La Paz.

So far, we`re finding that Bolivia is a stunning and diverse country that has yet to feel the negative impacts of rampant tourism.  And we´re not even out of La Paz yet!

To the jungle!

Taylor and Michael