La Paz: the highest city in the world

We took an early flight into La Paz. Over cautious, we arrived at the airport  half an hour before the staff arrived and more importantly before the coffee shop was opened. After an uneventful flight we arrived in La Paz.

La Paz, in Bolivia, is the highest administrative capital in the world, resting on the Andes’ Altiplano plateau at more than 3,500m above sea level. It stretches to El Alto city in the highlands, with snow-capped, 6,438m-high Mt. Illimani as its backdrop. At such extreme altitude we are constantly aware of the risk of altitude sickness.

We walked the city streets taking in the amazingly market culture. Later we learnt that there is a market for everything and people have long term often generational relationships with stall holders. My favourite market was the fancy dress, yes really, a whole market devoted to fancy dress! Heaven. There was even a witches market which is famous and fortunately right next to our hotel.. Having checked this out, we went to the Coca Museum. Here we learned how first the Spanish and then the USA had condemned and then exploited the plant and its use. In our La Paz hotel coca leaves were on the breakfast buffet!

My (John) shoes had broken for the second time on our trip and I spent an hour miming my need for glue to bemused store holders but after shop number four and offers of industrial quantities of glue, I discovered I was in the wrong market for small quantities. Eventually a nice young woman helped me out. So glue at the ready I succeeded in sticking my finger to my shoe. 

Suddenly out of nowhere an amazing parade emerged. We were blown away by the energy and vitality but my words cannot capture the powerful emotion of the music and I will let the pictures convey the scene.

On a guided walk around the city we learned about El penal de San Pedro (Saint Peter's Prison) it is the largest prison in La Paz and is renowned for being a society within itself. Significantly different from most correctional facilities, inmates at San Pedro have jobs inside the community, buy or rent their accommodation, and often live with their families.

Everywhere in La Paz you see the women ( cholitas) of the indigenous communities the Quechua and their Aymara counterparts, wearing distinctive bowler hats. The headwear is said to have been adopted after a shipment of hats for Europeans working on railways in Bolivia and Peru in the 1920s turned out to be ill-fitting and were given to the locals instead. There distinctive clothing was their take on the clothes of Spanish women during colonial times. 

Now we have seen many places with crazy driving but La Paz has a special take on how to be a pedestrian in this madness, this is basically run. Even the green man in La Paz is running.

Sadly we leave La Paz for new adventures.