La Paz Witchery

After a shit flight time we arrived at about 4:30am local time (thanks to a time zone change), and took a taxi straight to the hostel. We had booked accommodation for the night prior because we knew we were going to want to sleep as soon as we landed in La Paz. We had caught a couple hours in the plane but much more was needed, so we checked in and slept for a good few hours. After this, we were revived and had the energy to complete a walking tour. This was a great decision as our guide was fantastic and super enthusiastic about the town an it's history. This started at 2:30 and he took us all over the city, which also allowed us to use the cities famous cable car transport. It was a great way to get around but also a great way to see the city. He explained the history of the town where the Spanish colonialists found gold, but disputes over who could stay in the town resulted in a civil war. When peace was agreed many years later, the named the town, the peace, la paz. We then explored the watched markets with the interesting natural remedies, herbs, hallucinogens, sacrificial artefacts, and much more. I do mean sacrificial artefacts too. Baby lamas are killed and stuffed for the purchase of local people to symbolise their commitment to the gods and represent the ancient practice of sacrifice. This would help to ward off evil spirits. We then took another cable car to the top of the city where we could stand on the Ridge and look into the valley below, in which the town is situated. He then explained that the poorer people live here because the walk to and from home would be difficult... the tour ended with us in the main square where there were some colonial buildings transformed into government buildings. After this we grabbed some Indian food and went back to the hostel for a sleep and to try and catch up on sleep.Read more