La Paz, Bolivia

For a name that directly translates to "the peace", La Paz is anything but peaceful.

It's hectic. The streets are obnoxiously steep, windy and almost always rammed full of bumper to bumper traffic. Cholitas and other vendors line the footpath with their goods spilling out onto the road, creating confusion between pedestrians and traffic. Men, women and children vie for position at intersections or shop fronts to shine shoes for coins. Industry and shop owners struggle to contain their work in their shops, often resulting in welding and auto repairs on the road, where moving buses narrowly miss their equipment. Locals push carts full of nuts, popcorn, orange juice, pasteles (or just about anything you can imagine) through hoards of pedestrians. But if you can diffuse the stress it's a fascinating and lively scene at almost every turn.

Then there's the noise. If it can't be heard it can't be sold; no doubt you'll hear it before you see it. Noisy engines, squeaky brakes and incessant honking are all part of the medley which tires the senses at astonishing rates.

All that is on top of the 4000m altitude which continues to affect our eating, drinking, walking and even sleeping performance by way of limiting oxygen. So when I say we're averaging 10 hours sleep per night, hopefully you won't think we're holiday sloths - we need our slumber!

On the subject of slumber, we arrived in La Paz on an overnight bus from Sucre which was our first full cama (bed) bus we've taken this entire trip. I was super excited about a good sleep (you should know how much I love sleep by now) and almost immediately adopted the full recline position. Unfortunately an hour or so into the journey, the icy chill from Bolivia's highlands seeped through the window and enveloped my body. Having foolishly left the majority of my warm clothes in my luggage, I spent the rest of the night attempting to contain my body heat whilst enviously watching the eskimo (covered in her entire wardrobe) sleeping deeply beside me. Lucky her.

Wandering the streets of La Paz is great fun in short bursts. To ensure our wandering had a little understanding, we signed up to a walking tour immediately after arriving. We ended up walking for over four hours, embracing markets, witchery, the San Francisco Church, and the infamous San Pedro prison for those of you who've read Marching Powder. After this tour we continued walking for another fourty minutes before catching the gondola for a view of the city and a $1 lunch of fried rice, eggs and plantain. The afternoon saw more walking much to my protest as I was well and truely ready to throw in the towel. Thanks to Cat, we had another great hostel to retire to (York BnB), with a room right above the street in the downtown area.

We biked Death Road the next day (see other footprint) but spent the day after back in La Paz. My morning was spent watching the All Blacks and then the America's Cup (finally found a good sports bar right beside our hostel). A friend from high school, Kieran and his girlfriend joined as well as Cat and Lennart which made for quite the crowd at midday in a dingy English pub. In the afternoon we spent even more time wandering the city and it's markets, you really have to see this one for yourself. Of course, delicious treats are an important part of any city wander and you'd be foolish to say no to the lady with the ice creams or the man with the chocolate.

That day we signed up for a tour we would all (at discreet points over the next three days) wish we hadn't. As we ate our tikki masala curry that night (not the smartest choice, I know), the snowy peak of Huayna Potosi loomed at 6088m, just a stone's throw from our indian restaurant in La Paz. Hold your breath - that's next.

Although we didn't do much of note in La Paz, I really enjoyed this stop (altitude aside). It's like a giant Medellín with more character and cheaper food. Plus, if you come with a slightly higher budget, there are more tours and day trips than you can poke a stick at. Put it on the list.Read more