How to Cross the Road in La Paz

This morning (15th August) we went to pick up our bus and train tickets for tomorrow. The tour agency who booked them (you can't book online!) was a short walk from our hostel up the main road in La Paz. You'd think this would be a simple task but the uphill walk, the altitude and the pollution made it a difficult task. By the end of the day, both Stu and I had sore throats, just imagine if you lived here!

On our way to the tour agency we passed several banks. Each had at least one armed security guard. What we guessed was the "best bank" had two security guards, each armed with a pump action shotgun! At the petrol station a policeman was stationed with a pistol plus spare bullets in his holster, with one missing.

What we assumed to be the "worst bank" had a single security guard inside who looked half asleep. We wondered if people choose their bank by their security presence?

After picking up our tickets we went back to the centre of La Paz and visited the Witches Market and church. There were interesting arts and crafts everywhere and it was hard to resist the temptation to buy some very nice things!

In the afternoon we flagged down a taxi and went to the richer part of town. The difference was astonishing. Gone were the small, higgledy piggledy buildings and in came the high rise tower blocks.

We were planning to have lunch in the Radisson Hotel which supposedly had the best views in town but the restaurant was closed although we almost got invited into the Coca Convention happening on the same floor!

Slightly disappointed we weren't going to get a view with lunch we found an alternative lunch spot, but this meant crossing several roads. We have been getting used to crossing roads here. The traffic follows a few simple rules:

   1. Stop for nothing. This includes people and traffic lights.
   2. When stationary, creep forward up to the next persons bumper, hitting pedestrians on your way and then pump your horn as this surely will get the traffic moving again.

Knowing these two rules will make crossing the road in Bolivia much simpler and less life threatening. We found the following tips helpful too:

   1. Run as fast as you can, dodging any traffic and ignoring any horns.
   2. If that fails, cross with lots of other people, making sure you are furthest from the incoming traffic!

Safely at our lunch spot we had an ok lunch, our second preferred place was also closed :-(

After lunch we headed for the "park" which is meant to be a romantic spot for couples. The park consisted of a few patches of grass and lots of steps. When we got near the top there was a little electric car that took you to the top for 30p each! When we got to the top there was a large glass building with a cafeteria sign. We hopefully headed straight for it, thinking we'd finally get to relax overlooking views of the city. Unfortunately the door was locked and the room completely empty. Today seems to have been characterised by places being closed.

We went back downstairs to find a ring of young people all saying things in unison. On further investigation it was a "Preparing you for Today" convention. We skillfully managed to avoid having to join the circle and the video camera recording the day's events. Finally we came out on a balcony with some ok views and could relax, sitting on a step with our half drunk bottle of water. Ah the luxury! It was at this point we found out our bus tickets had the wrong date on them.

Feeling slightly refreshed we made our way back down to street level and attempted to hail another taxi.

For the great expense of £1 we took a taxi back to Plaza Bolivia where the presidential palace and cathedral are.

The square was reminiscent of when I went to Trafalgar Square as a child. There were little stands selling seeds and children feeding pigeons everywhere! We both enjoyed our ice creams watching the children feed the birds. Fortunately we were not accosted by pigeons as we ate, setting off for a recommended chocolate shop as soon as we'd finished.

The smell of the chocolate...mmmmm. And the taste... MMMMMM. If you're lucky we'll bring some back with us. But I doubt it will make it all the way back to the UK :-p

With enough excitement for one day, we set off back for the old town, going down the local high street selling lots of fake designer clothes.

Safely back at our hostel, we had an hour before our laundry would be ready. Hopefully this time we would get all of our socks back!

We went back to the travel agency to get our bus tickets amended which seemed a little too easy. Some tipex and rewriting the date. Fingers crossed we can get on the bus tomorrow!

Enroute to the travel agency there was a long queue outside of a government building with lots of little booths with old fashioned typewriters in them and signs saying they were personal financial advisors.

As we walked to dinner we saw another rather odd sight, someone braving the traffic, trusting they would stay stopped at the red light, playing a trumpet! She stayed just before they lights turned green, went up to a few car windows then disappeared into the crowd.

Further on, every few meters there were beggars. We had started keeping any coin change in our pockets to give to them as the equivalent of 50p would feed them for a few days.

All in all our day in La Paz was quite an experience and most importantly we survived. No taxi hijackings, no muggings and no pick pocketing. Either we were lucky our the guide book is a little over the top.

Note: the photos of the town are taken in polar opposite directions. I'll try a panorama stitching when I get home and hopefully get a better picture when we return to La Paz on 5 days time.