"Bolivia". I have only ever had vague ideas and images in my mind when I heard the name - "That's the country with the crazy white desert, right?"
It also seemed very far away from a Central European point of view - mainly because, well, it is. There is no direct flight to La Paz from Germany, but even if there were one - the 21:45h indicated by Google would be out of control. Lewis Black summed up his thoughts on long-distance flights quite fittingly in this bit. Thankfully I could cut that distance into two trips, staying at my friend Chris' place in São Paulo for a bit before traveling on to Bolivia with him.
We took a flight into El Alto airport, the highest international airport in the world. As La Paz is situated on the Western side of the country, one crosses the vastness of Bolivia on the way. From time to time, you can spot tiny settlements in the vast rocky landscape and contemplate how inconceivably different life must be growing up in such a surrounding.
You could also be jet-lagged out of your mind and postpone such thoughts to a later date when you look through your photos again, which is the option I decisively went for.
Located right next to La Paz, El Alto airport is situated on more than 4,000m altitude and the approach is, in a word, spectacular.
I mean, seriously?
Due to the different aerial conditions, pilots flying to El Alto need to go through extra training, and looking out the window it is not hard to understand why. The peaks outside look like you could reach them from the plane window if you stretched out your arms just a bit.
Reading up on the symptoms is a fun way to pass the time on the plane, and while real life turned out less dramatic in our case, stepping out of a pressurized plane, the effects of the altitude are quite noticeable on oneself and the other passengers walking to the terminal to pick up their stuff. The walking speed slowed down visibly, and most people were panting slightly by the time we reached the building. Once you land and walk over the runway, you notice that La Paz is breathtaking in a way more literal sense, too. Mountain medicine recognizes three altitude regions that reflect the lowered amount of oxygen in the atmosphere: High altitude (1,500–3,500m) very high altitude (3,500–5,500m) and extreme altitude (above 5,500m) - all of which come with certain side-effects ranging from dizziness over increased heart rate, all the way up to, yep, death.
The cab ride down from El Alto to La Paz goes down a steep road in zigzag motions and reveals beautiful sights at every corner. From various spots in the city, you can sit down and watch the sky change its colors, going through all shades of red, purple to blue - a great sight, which we enjoyed from our apartment window, sipping on some coca tea, a traditional Bolivian remedy against altitude sickness.
We would end up having quite a few coca teas over the course of the next two weeks and we never got behind whether or not the stuff actually helped or whether it was just the placebo effect combined with slow acclimatization. The tea, by the way, must not be exported (at least not to Germany, as all guidebooks repeatedly note) as it would be a violation of the narcotics law. To steal from Wikipedia: "The amount of coca alkaloid in the raw leaves is small. A cup of coca tea prepared from one gram of coca leaves (the typical contents of a tea bag) contains approximately 4.2 mg of organic coca alkaloid. In comparison, a line of cocaine contains between 20 and 30 milligrams." It tastes a bit like green tea, slightly bitter with a somewhat sweet aftertaste.
In the evening our group doubled in size, as Andi and Isabella, who had been traveling Chile and Peru before, joined us in La Paz to travel on with us. Since our arrival in Bolivia coincided with my birthday, we all went out to have dinner at Gustu, a true gem of a restaurant in La Paz led by Danish cook. A very unique culinary experience, with dishes based solely on ingredients from Bolivia. The good food and the decent gin selection brought a cozy closure to our first day in the country.
La Paz City Tour
Situated between and on the steep hills of the area, La Paz can be demanding to walk for the newly arrived traveler who is still in the process of getting used to the altitude. That said, the city also rewards you with interesting views and angles around every corner.
We decided to join a free walking tour, in which two guides lead through the narrow streets and markets of the city and share bits of trivia, stories and personal insights. The meeting point was the square right at the infamous San Pedro prison, which is right in the center of the city. The prison is like a city within the city, with different quarters, restaurants and shops, and its own rules. Prisoners have to pay an entrance fee and buy their own cells, their families often live inside the prison walls, too. Also, San Pedro is known as a source for high-quality cocaine, which is manufactured within its walls and sold through middlemen who catch the packages thrown from the roofs at night. All a little crazy and surreal, famously captured in the book Marching Powder, which is hereby recommended.
So anyways, the tour: As we learned, Bolivia's history is a bit wild. Throughout the past 180 years of Bolivia's history the country has had nearly 200 heads of state. Clashes between various parties seeking power, including the military and the police, were frequent - and evidence for the struggles can be found throughout the city of La Paz. Even today tensions can easily flare up from time to time, as we witnessed when we walked into a large demonstration, and the police rushed in in full tactical gear to protect the presidential palace and the roads leading up to it. While everything felt more or less under control, it was hard not to feel just a liiittle uneasy, when the guide dismissed the sudden bangs which could be heard from time to time with "Ah, just dynamite." Well thanks, it's all good then.
We walked along the path of the demonstration for a while until a few detonations, which were definitely too loud and too close for comfort, made us decide that actually, leaving the street for a while to have a hot drink someplace far away seemed like a smart idea. While we sat down with the inevitable coca tea, we contemplated the difficult situation Bolivia is in. There is no large industry or economic diversification to speak of and the whole economy more or less relies on natural resources. Add inflation (20,000% [!] in 1985, now down to around 4%) and corruption and it's not hard to see that despite the relative stability under Morales, the situation is somewhat tricky. That said, and dynamite-throwing crowds aside, we never felt unsafe in the city, or the country, for that matter (an exception are the mountain roads, on which cars and buses drive way too close to the edge for the European heart).
Diving into La Paz and its pretty roads, which go up and down following the shape of the mountain the city is built on, is a great experience. Colorful street markets with delicious fruits, tiny coffee places, the witch market with its unique selection of magic powders and potions - the city is a kaleidoscope of impressions and new experiences. Just watch out you don't get floored by one of the cars speeding through the city, the traffic in La Paz is notorious.
Things to add:
Do one of the walking city tours. They are very informative and one gets an idea of some of the main areas, customs, and characteristics of La Paz.
While many guide books highlight Bolivia's cuisine as "distinctive and varied", we found that in total, it is a bit meh (although there were some highlights). Usually, it's mix of meat-heavy courses that come with potatoes, rice and the occasional vegetable. Pasties filled with meat and/or vegetables can be bought from street vendors pretty much anywhere. If you are a fan of quinoa, you are in luck, though. With some fresh fruits and yogurt, it is just the right tasty and healthy snack before your afternoon coffee/coca tea.
Bargaining is commonplace in Bolivia. Booking hotels, tours, and activities from back home gives you an added feeling of security and might calm you down, but if you don't mind that not everything is planned out from day 1, you should opt to bargain once you get there. It's all about balance, obviously. Don't try to squeeze a discount from a street vendor who is barely making a living, but otherwise, most things are up for negotiation. The overall assumption is that since you made it all the way over in your spare time (!) you must have more money than you need. Treat it like a game, smile and goof around a bit - it goes a long way. And a discount of 20-30% was pretty much always possible for hotel stays, tours, etc.
The witch market offers all sorts of magic potions and powders, lucky charms and spells. To make someone fall in love with you, for example, you have to get very close and blow some love powder onto them, which is not creepy at all. Also, you might want to check who else is standing in the vicinity, since La Paz is a very windy city. You'll also see a display of dried-up alpaca fetuses at the market. They might look a tad gruesome, but are part of a ritual to give to the goddess Mother Earth. Whenever a new building is constructed, the somewhat macabre lucky charm is placed at the site and burned. They are, by the way, not killed for this purpose - it's still-born alpacas, which are preserved by the low temperature and high altitude. Bolivians might be catholic on paper, but there is a broad mix of beliefs and superstitions which are brought into the mix.
Improvisation and random ingenuity - it's just something you encounter in a country in which supplies and spare parts are not always readily available or too expensive. This situation leads to a mindset which is both very pragmatic and creative. So you might encounter scenes like this from time to time:
Genius.