La Paz

The journey to La Paz was an interesting one. At one point we had to cross part of the lake by boat, as did our bus as you can see!

Arriving in La Paz was a little stressful, it's a very dangerous city and we didn´t have anywhere to stay. We got a recommendation on a place to stay (Las Brisas, Calle Illampu) and it's worked out well, the hotel is great, clean, not bad value and the staff are really friendly. We went for a stroll around town to find somewhere to eat which was surprisingly hard and returned to find that all the night markets had opened up on the streets surrounding our hotel. We are staying in the heart of the market district so it is very happening. We are also right next to the Witches Market area where they sell delightful artifacts such as llama foetuses - pretty disgusting and we have to walk past these everyday. They have a certain smell to them, a bit like a musty incense (probably coming from the shop) and I don´t think I´ll be able to use incense again now.

La Paz is a really poor city though, on our drive into the city we passed a lot of very shabby districts with unfinished houses and grafitti everywhere. Many of the houses are built out of mud and they stand side by side with large skyscrapers. There are many impoverished indiginous people who sit on the side of the road selling their wares or begging and racism is a hot topic here (as you can see from the grafitti).
La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at around 3,800 metres and is built in a valley surrounded by snowy mountains. Walking around can be difficult, as it was in Cusco, and the air quality is poor which makes it harder. It is very difficult to find somewhere to eat in La Paz. That may sound strange but on our first night we walked around, scouring the streets and at least 3 neighbourhoods for somewhere that looked acceptable, we came across one cafe that served good, if not a bit bland enchilladas. Since then we have had to consult the guide book more than we would normally do to find food. We also tried searching for a place to have a quick drink on our first night but it is very difficult to do as there are no bars or pubs here. The Bolivians like to drink though and on Sunday they have a day off work and let their hair down a bit. Makes it a bit more dangerous for us tourists at night though so we retired early... in fact when the sun goes down at 6.30 you have to be quite careful on the streets and watch out for shady characters. We haven´t taken our camera out much here so don´t have that many great pictures.

Yesterday we visited Tiwanaku, pre-inca ruins near La Paz and apparently the most important archeological site in Bolivia. Unfortunately they haven´t excavated everything yet and what they have found has been transported to various museums in La Paz so there isn´t an awful lot remaining at the actual site. Also they are attempting to recreate what the site once was, but out of mud instead of the original stone. Funny how centuries ago they used better building materials than they do these days.
There was a small museum which showed an example of the mummification of bodies practised by the Tiwanacans.

Today we will be heading off to Uyuni to visit Bolivia´s famous Salt Flats desert, ending in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. The pictures will be stunning and we´re pretty excited. Keep tuned!