Saturday, May 23, 2009

La Paz

From Rurrebenque, we had two options to make it to La Paz...
Option #1: 18-24hr overnight bus-ride on the worlds deadliest road (4000m elevation gain, 600m+ cliffs with no guard rails, 3.2 m wide dirt, potholed road that claims more than 100 lives a year).

Option #2: A short (35 minute) but exciting plane ride in an 18 passanger plane leaving from a grass airfield having to gain more than 6000m elevation in a very short distance to make it safely over the Andes Mountains and land in La Paz at 3660m.

We opted for the plane ride!

La Paz is an amazing city in many respects. The city´s buildings cling to the sides of a canyon and spill downwards. Recognized as the business centre of Bolivia, La Paz is a very lively and bussling place. Street vendors are set up 24 hours a day selling everything from food to furniture. From our hostel we were able to walk down to the famous Mercado de Hechiceria(Witches Market). The market is overflowing with herbs, magical potions and shriveled llama fetuses, which locals bury under the porches of their new homes for luck and fortune.


La Paz was a fun city and a great place to recover(bug bites, sun burn, food poisoning) from our Amazon trip. We even managed to catch an english speaking movie (Wolverine) at one of the local cinemas.

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