la paz, bolivia

I arrived in La Paz after a quite short busride from Copacabana. I was planning on couchsurfing there, but I`d booked a hostel the first night to get settled and orientated. And I also needed to do some shopping.

La Paz is a big city, and it was quite a contrast to the quiet Isla del Sol. But for being a big city, it was a nice one. Crowded, sizzling and with steep streets, but also a lot of street art, markets and food. Even though I’m usually not a fan of big cities, I kinda liked it - it just seemed to have good spirits and I really enjoyed the art.

The hostel was big, but nice, and I spent my night there, and also the next day with some interesting converstaions. And I got my shopping done – after getting lost in the endless market streets of La Paz. It was incredible. Cars were trying to squeeze through the streets, that were full of stands and people and behind every corner I found myself in a different “department”. From the toothbrush-street to the clothing-street to the fruit-street to the paint-street. I spent several hours just walking around, and after a while I had completely lost orientation. In the evening I got picked up by my host, we grabbed something to eat and I got to my new home for the next couple of days.

On the next day I still had to do some things, immigration office, post office, and stuff like that, and in the afternoon I ended up going to another couchsurfer’s house. After an amazing lunch, I decided to do some sightseeing with a German couchsurfer and visit the Valle de la Luna, an interesting landscape formation close to La Paz. It was nice to speak some German again and it also felt good to be doing and seeing something. In the evening I went back to my host’s house, and I was really glad I found my way up there with the minibus (the same thing as a colectivo in peru) at night.

Since it was time for me to be a bit touristy (just have to be that every once in a while), I went for a city walking tour the next day. I had heard from several people that it was good, and since my host had to work a lot, I was glad about being able to keep myself occupied. We were a big group and the tour took about 2 ½ hours. We started off at the San Pedro prison, went through some food market streets to the Witches Market, had some Bolivian history lessons at the Plaza Murillo and ended in a Hotel with a great view over the city. The tour was definitely interesting, and it was cool to learn some stuff about the city and the culture. For example, why they sell lama fetuses. Or, why the cholitas waer 100 layers of skirts.

After the tour I was by myself again and wandered around the streets. I also went back to a little art gallery, that I had found on my first day in La Paz, which showed art from a local Aymara artist. I walked through it and afterwards I talked a little to the guy there and he explained me some of the meanings of the paintings. That was really interesting, and I tried to take in as much as possible with my memory and Spanish skills (which are getting better and better ). Later I went to a mirador and for dinner with my host.

On that day I also finally made the decision that I would bike down the Death Road, and so I was ready to go the day after.

I got up early in the morning, and my host dropped me off at the meeting point. There was already a bunch of people and all of them seemed nice. We got on the bus, and after a flat tire and an hour of driving, we got to the starting point of the Death Road. We poured some 96% alcohol on the ground, our front wheels and took a zip, so Pachamama (the mother Earth) would give us safety on our way down. The first part of our biking was on a paved road, to get used to the bikes. It was pretty cold up there, but the view was great and I enjoyed being on a bike. The second part was the actual “Death Road” – a narrow dirt road, with a nice edge on the side. I didn’t even want to look down, and was happy that the rocks on the road needed my attention. After I got a little used to the mountainbike thing, and the fact that we were supposed to stay on the left side, it was a lot of fun. We made a few stops where our guide explained some dangerous or famous parts, went underneath waterfalls and through rivers, and the further down we got, the hotter it got. At the end everybody had taken their layers off and from the cold of the mountains we had gotten into the hot humidity of the subtropical zone. We ended our trip in a small restaurant next to a river, where we had lunch before getting on the bus back to La Paz. I was tired and my wrist hurt, but I still let myself get talked into drinking a bit. That bit turned into a little more, and by the time we got back, most of us were a little more than tipsy. So we decided to go to a bar, and…then I woke up the next day at 5pm ;).

I didn’t do much that day, just some laundry and that was pretty much it. In the evening I went with my host to dance. Well, I didn’t dance but I enjoyed watching the group of Bolivians dancing a traditional dance in a public place. Was pretty cool.

After my glorious hangover-day, it was time to do some research on how I should continue my travels. There were a lot of options and considerations, and I spent quite some time going from travel agency to travel agency to gather information. But what really helped me make up my mind was talking to a friend, who had come the way I was going, and so I decided to go to Coroico and take a bus to the Amazon town Rurrenabaque from there. But having made that decision didn’t mean it was time to go yet. For some reason La Paz had kinda caught me and I had a hard time getting away from it. I went out on Friday night with my host, and spent a lot of lazy time at the house.

On Sunday I finally managed it to go the huge black market in El Alto, kind of a part of La Paz and also kind of its own city, which transforms into nothing but market every Thursday and Sunday. I can’t think of anything you couldn’t buy there, and it was definitely good that I didn’t need anything and my backpack was full. That day I also dared to get a new haircut for the outrageous price of 15 Bolivianos (1,50€), and I was surprised that it didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would. By then I had gotten quite used to La Paz, the people there and also the house I lived in. I had cooked some Austrian food for my host’s family and my backpack had become part of the inventory in the living room.

But it was more than time for me to leave, and I was planning on getting out and taking a bus to Coroico on Monday. When I woke up in the morning, things packed and ready to go, my host told me that the bus drivers were striking and he wasn’t sure if there were any buses leaving the city. That fact didn’t really make my day, but it gave me the chance to meet up with a friend that I had met in Huaraz a couple weeks earlier. Surprisingly we found each other in the crowd of protesting bus drivers in the streets, and then went out for lunch and a little bit of shopping again. It felt good to have someone to talk to ( I had gotten a little lonely during the last days), and especially being able to speak something else than Spanish again.

I feel like I’m learning a lot of Spanish now, and I’m starting to become more confident about it, but it can also be very exhausting when you always have to spend a lot of energy to express yourself. Later we met up with another friend of hers, and went to a traditional bar/restaurant for some beers. It was amazing how drunk all the men (there were only men in there) were, even though it was no later than 5 pm, but I still kinda enjoyed the place and the company. And then, the next day, I finally made it out of La Paz, and just being on a bus with my backpack again (well, the backpack was on the roof of the bus, but anyways), and to be going somewhere made me feel better.

Off to a new place, and this time also a new climate.