La Paz
I absolutely loved La Paz. It made my list of favorite cities in the world. If I could sum it up in a word, that word might be chaos. It’s way too many buildings piled on top of one another at ridiculous angles, on the sides and edges of cliffs, all built on land that erodes easily in the heavy rains that hit it every year. Sidewalks are narrow and steep, there are staircases twisting through the city everywhere. There are tarps hanging on the hillsides to slow erosion. There are a few landslides and collapsed buildings scattered about. In places, the roads have been destroyed or covered by a landslide. There are stray dogs and loose pet dogs on every street. There are a lot of old buildings and plazas and stone roadways. And there are a lot of people.
Traffic is ridiculous. Taxis and busses honk to say “Hello”, “Watch Out”, “I see you”, “RUN!”, or simply to ask if you want a ride. It’s anybody’s guess as to what any individual honk actually means. Red lights don’t always matter. There are crosswalks and pedestrian signals, but turning cars still seem to have the right of way. Crossing at intersections is scary. The best way to cross the street is to ignore the streetlights and look for an opening halfway down the block (looking both ways, even on a one-way), then cross quickly. That’s how most people do it, and the cops don’t even blink.
There are street markets everywhere in the city. Everywhere. And they stretch for literally kilometers. And you can buy nearly anything you can think of. Clothing, shoes, home goods, spices, fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, various organ meats, video games, comic books, musical instruments, beauty products, car parts and toys. I saw one woman that was only selling staplers, another only clocks. I loved the street where people were selling light fixtures and bulbs – they had everything lit up. There’s also a Witch Market; a street where you can buy animal bones and other weird things. The fish didn't smell so great, but the fruit did!
Traffic is ridiculous. Taxis and busses honk to say “Hello”, “Watch Out”, “I see you”, “RUN!”, or simply to ask if you want a ride. It’s anybody’s guess as to what any individual honk actually means. Red lights don’t always matter. There are crosswalks and pedestrian signals, but turning cars still seem to have the right of way. Crossing at intersections is scary. The best way to cross the street is to ignore the streetlights and look for an opening halfway down the block (looking both ways, even on a one-way), then cross quickly. That’s how most people do it, and the cops don’t even blink.
There are street markets everywhere in the city. Everywhere. And they stretch for literally kilometers. And you can buy nearly anything you can think of. Clothing, shoes, home goods, spices, fruits and vegetables, fresh fish, various organ meats, video games, comic books, musical instruments, beauty products, car parts and toys. I saw one woman that was only selling staplers, another only clocks. I loved the street where people were selling light fixtures and bulbs – they had everything lit up. There’s also a Witch Market; a street where you can buy animal bones and other weird things. The fish didn't smell so great, but the fruit did!
You can buy a meal served on a ceramic plate and eat it in the market, sitting on a tiny plastic stool. Well, other people can – I don’t know that I could handle it. The fish are cooked whole, which isn’t terrible, but awkward to eat on your lap I would think. The other meats that were served looked like the stuff that should normally be ground into dogfood. Watching people gnaw on gristle and bones was appetite suppressing, to say the least. And then there is my fragile digestive system. I have to be careful with street food. I have bought baked buns full of various meats and vegetables, but I stay away from anything raw. There were so many tasty looking fruit drinks and parfaits for sale, they really were tempting, but the people that live in the city can drink the tap water. I can’t.
Throughout the city there are several miradors, or viewpoints. I managed to visit a few. There is no place where you can see the entire city at once. And actually, it’s more than one city. There are several municipalities that collide to form one megacity. El Alto is an enormous city stretched out on the plain above the valley. It just feels like more of La Paz.
Throughout the city there are several miradors, or viewpoints. I managed to visit a few. There is no place where you can see the entire city at once. And actually, it’s more than one city. There are several municipalities that collide to form one megacity. El Alto is an enormous city stretched out on the plain above the valley. It just feels like more of La Paz.
But the thing that makes La Paz most amazing is the Telerifico. It’s a series of cable cars that connect various parts of the city (or cities). The first lines opened in 2014, more in 2019. There are a couple of lines yet to be built. It costs 3 BS (60 cents) to ride any line. For every transfer to another line, you add 2 BS (40 cents). It’s cheap. It’s pretty fast. There are rarely lines to board, but even then, the lines move quickly. And the view from the cable cars is amazing, as long as the car isn’t enveloped in thick fog. I rode the cable cars everywhere, sometimes just to see the city from above. I rode every line at least once. A few times I rode the Telerifico up to the top of the valley and then walked down to explore from street level. I had a station about a half a kilometer from my hostel, thankfully at about the same elevation, so it was a quick, easy walk to access it.
I didn’t bother with any tours, didn’t visit any churches or museums. Things were usually closed when I walked by, but I didn’t care; I was entertained enough just by wandering.
I did go to a futbol match! (That’s soccer for those of you that are uncultured 😉). It was a classic match – Team Bolivia against another Bolivian team, The Strongest. Team Bolivia won with only one goal. An interesting fact about Team Bolivia: They don’t win much. They almost never qualify for the World Cup. BUT, they win their home games because of the altitude. When I was reading about the home games online, I read that no visiting player has ever died while playing in La Paz. I was surprised that needed to be said. The match I went to was fun. The crowd has so much energy! I went out to the concourse at half-time and the crowd was so thick you couldn’t move. I bought a sausage on a bun with pickled veggies. It looked safe enough. I left before the match ended because it started raining a little harder and the sausage I’d eaten wasn’t sitting too well. I also didn’t want to fight the crowd to leave the stadium after the game.
I also went to a really nice restaurant in La Paz called Popular Cocina Boliviana (Bolivian Popular Food). I sat at the bar and got to watch the kitchen staff as they cooked and plated and washed dishes. They serve fancy Bolivian dishes that look amazing and taste delicious, and they cater mainly to tourists, so the food is safe. They have a couple of choices for appetizer and dessert, and 3 choices for the main course. I had an avocado appetizer, a main course that had potato served 4 ways and included quail eggs. For dessert I had a fresh donut filled with a cold, citrus filling and topped with crushed cucumber ice. Obviously, there was a lot more to each of the dishes. They were all decorated with edible flowers and leaves and there were sauces and purees. Oh, and that peach drink that I’d had my first night in Bolivia – the one that made me sick? Well, I had that, and it was so good. It’s a peach cider, spiced with cinnamon. I also had a glass of Bolivian sweet red wine (like a port) – paired with the peanut sauce on my potato dish. The meal cost me 100 BS ($20), which is expensive for Bolivia, but it’s one of the best meals I’ve eaten in my life. Certainly, the prettiest.
I did go to a futbol match! (That’s soccer for those of you that are uncultured 😉). It was a classic match – Team Bolivia against another Bolivian team, The Strongest. Team Bolivia won with only one goal. An interesting fact about Team Bolivia: They don’t win much. They almost never qualify for the World Cup. BUT, they win their home games because of the altitude. When I was reading about the home games online, I read that no visiting player has ever died while playing in La Paz. I was surprised that needed to be said. The match I went to was fun. The crowd has so much energy! I went out to the concourse at half-time and the crowd was so thick you couldn’t move. I bought a sausage on a bun with pickled veggies. It looked safe enough. I left before the match ended because it started raining a little harder and the sausage I’d eaten wasn’t sitting too well. I also didn’t want to fight the crowd to leave the stadium after the game.
I also went to a really nice restaurant in La Paz called Popular Cocina Boliviana (Bolivian Popular Food). I sat at the bar and got to watch the kitchen staff as they cooked and plated and washed dishes. They serve fancy Bolivian dishes that look amazing and taste delicious, and they cater mainly to tourists, so the food is safe. They have a couple of choices for appetizer and dessert, and 3 choices for the main course. I had an avocado appetizer, a main course that had potato served 4 ways and included quail eggs. For dessert I had a fresh donut filled with a cold, citrus filling and topped with crushed cucumber ice. Obviously, there was a lot more to each of the dishes. They were all decorated with edible flowers and leaves and there were sauces and purees. Oh, and that peach drink that I’d had my first night in Bolivia – the one that made me sick? Well, I had that, and it was so good. It’s a peach cider, spiced with cinnamon. I also had a glass of Bolivian sweet red wine (like a port) – paired with the peanut sauce on my potato dish. The meal cost me 100 BS ($20), which is expensive for Bolivia, but it’s one of the best meals I’ve eaten in my life. Certainly, the prettiest.
And I did manage to visit Valle de la Luna – the Valley of the Moon, which lies not far from the city. It’s just an area where erosion has formed some insane rock formations. They added stairs and bridges and a few handrails here and there so you can explore. I walked back to the city from there (a little awkward in spots where there was no sidewalk on the side of the highway). I just wanted to enjoy the valley more than I could from the bus.
I spent 10 days in La Paz, and I never got bored. And there were a lot of things I never had time to see. It was hard to say goodbye.