La Paz

We slept most of the bus ride to La Paz, but luckily we were awake to see the first glimpse of the city. La Paz is a huge city covering both sides of a canyon. From up above before we turned to descend into the canyon it was an amazing sight.

When we got to the bus stataion we took a taxi to our hostel . We stayed in the downtown area so it was easy to walk to the main sights. We put our stuff down and went to find lunch. The rest of the afternoon we walked through the Witch´s Market, a big artisan market selling handmade crafts. Anything you can imagine that is made out of lamb, llama, or vicuna wool, they have it. Its called the Witch´s Market because they also sell traditional witch doctor trinkets like shriveled llama fetuses and different types of herbal potions. Its actually quite common still today for Bolivians to buy a llama fetus and bury it under a house or a building for good luck.

fresh squeezed orange juice in the market

one block of the Witch´s Market

                                     llama fetuses, anyone?                   another pic of the market

During the rest our time here in La Paz, we saw the presidential palace, the legislative building, several parks with great views, and lot of street markets. We also toured the Coca Leaf Museum which explained the history of the coca leaf. It is extremely common here for people to chew coca leaves on a daily basis. The coca leaf helps the body adjust to changes in altitude and it is supposed to help the body digest food better. It also has a natural stimulant like caffeine which is why most people here chew it. It has been interesting for us to see how popular it is here, since its the base ingredient for cocaine. Its not a drug by itself, but it´s ilegal in the U.S. for obvious reasons. One very interesting fact about the coca leaf is that Coca-Cola began as a coca-flavored soda. Because the coca leaf was so popular worldwide, an American pharmacist in the early 1900s during the prohibition era  invented a non-alcoholic stimulant drink using the coca leaf. And Coca-Cola was born. We tried a tea made from coca leaves and we don´t think it tasted or smelled anything like Coca-Cola.

From the Little of La Paz that we were able to see, it seems that it is a pretty crowded place. The streets and sidewalks are always packed, no matter what time of day. Crossing the street is an art here- you have to be brave and willing to weave around cars like everyone else does to get anywhere.

Here you can see how we are in a canyon. The streets are steep headed down, and then back up again.

Legislative building

nearby volcano

some kind of sit-in protest in the street

coca leaf tea. we´re not fans.

In an hour or so, we are taking a bus to Copacabana, a town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. It should take us about 3 hours to get there.  More to come in a few days…