La Paz, the highest capital in the world

It’s early afternoon that we leave snowy Copacabana for La Paz.

We were excited to warm up in the bus but as everywhere we go there is no heat…

After an hour we need to cross the Titicaca lake. Our driver asks us to get off the bus. Indeed, the passengers take a small boat while the bus crosses on a large barge. It’s fun to see but boy does it take long! Especially when waiting in the cold. We are all impatient to get back on the bus, because even if it’s not heated, at least it isn’t snowing inside…

We get in La Paz around 5:30 pm. We were hoping that this 4 hour drive would bring us to a more comfortable weather. Well it seems that we were too naive... it is also cold and snowy in La Paz.

Since we hadn’t booked a hostel in advance (no internet for 2 days), we started looking for one not too far from where our bus dropped us off. Honestly, we settled in the first one we saw, we didn’t have the energy to walk with our backpacks in this crappy weather.

We talked with the owner of the hostel and she was telling us that this weather was absolutely not normal. Winter is supposed to be the dry season and they never see an ounce of rain. The sky is usually blue and it only gets cold at night. We hope we will be able to see that blue sky in La Paz. Since we have internet access again, we immediately look at the weather in the places we were supposed to go to after La Paz. We are cold and want to go some place warm (Maider was very close to booking a flight ticket to Rio de Janeiro…). After a little research, we decide to cancel our trip to the Sajama National Park (it looks absolutely beautiful but it is too cold for us there), instead we will go to the city of Santa Cruz where the temperature reaches 80°C. From there, we can visit the Amboro National Park and its jungle.

So we will spend a couple of days in La Paz before heading over to Santa Cruz. For our first night in La Paz, we decide to go all in to celebrate the end of Maider’s stomach flu (at least we thought so). Matt found a great wine bar just a few minutes walk from the hostel. The wine bar offers different cheese and charcuterie plates with Bolivian wine. Maider finally smiles again after picking a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon!

Visit of La Paz

The next day we start visiting La Paz. And we are very pleased to see that the snow is gone and the sun shines bright without a single cloud in the sky! We are still cold but it’s nothing compared to the last couple of days. Off we go wandering around the streets of the highest capital in the world at 11,800 ft above sea level. The walk is pretty tiresome since the streets go up and down all the time.

We then continued to the Plaza Murillo. As we are Sunday morning, the square is very lively with an army band playing music, kids feeding pigeons and of course street vendors to sell you anything you might need.

The square is surrounded by the presidential palace and the cathedral.

We then climbed up to the Kili Kili mirador that offers a 360° view of the city.

The scenery is incredible, with La Paz and all the mountains in the background. We already love this city. The blue sky most definitely helps us enjoy it even more.

We continue to wander around the small streets of La Paz, where the colorful houses are everything Maider loves!

Especially Jaen street, where it seems as though time froze and takes us back to colonial times. This pedestrian street, with its colorful houses, balconies and lanterns, seems very different than the rest of La Paz and more peaceful.

Then quick detour by the witches market where you can find all types of herbs, books and of course the traditional momified lama foetus (in the Aymaras culture, it would bring good luck and good health if you bury one under your house). There is also coca creme for muscle pain, or cactus powder for shamanic rituals.

Early afternoon we went to the district of El Alto, located in the higher part of La Paz. The best way to get there is to take one of the many cable cars of the city (and we love it).

Here these cable cars serve as public transportation and offer an amazing view on the city.

At the top we have an amazing view on La Paz and the surrounding snow capped summits.

As we got to El Alto, we rapidly understand that this is where the people from La Paz come on Sundays. We are right in the middle of a huge market where once again, you can find anything you can imagine. From food, clothes, shoes, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, electronics all the way to engine parts and electric cables. We now understand why there are so few supermarkets here, it seems like Bolivians simply go to these outdoor markets when they need to run an errand.

The sellers are simply shouting the names of whatever they have to sell, do demonstrations and talk in some sort of dialect we do not understand. Definitely a cultural experience to be in the middle of this market.

El Alto is also where you need to go if you want to see Cholitas wrestling. Every Thursday and Sunday these Bolivian women fight each other dressed in the typical Bolivian dresses. These fights were started to condemn violences made towards women, and give them courage and dignity.

We decided to go see a fight to see Bolivian culture a little closer. We spent two hours watching this show! And what a show!

The people are really into theses fights, they bring popcorn and drinks as if they were at the movies… The show starts with men fights.

Then the famous Cholitas.

The public usually chooses its favorite fighter and doesn’t hesitate to yell at the ref or throw popcorn and orange peels at the opponent they don’t like. We loved the experience.

The Moon Valley

For our second day in La Paz we went to visit the Moon Valley.

Located at only 10 miles from the center of La Paz, this park offers a stunning moon-like landscape.

We walked around these huge stalactites and gorges created by erosion.

We loved it!