La Paz

La Paz, Bolivias inofficial capital and the best place for foodies!! It is super busy with locals in traditional clothing, famous for its (rather weird) witch market with all the mummified and stuffed baby lamas, features several cable cars running all over the city and we absolutely loved its vibe. Right next to the very local area of the witch market, where we had our base for our stay in la Paz, was the super colourful tourist area which is lined with souvenir- and clothing stores, trendy bars and lots and lots of the usual very instagrammable decorations, such as a series of umbrellas being hung over the alleys just for the sake of looking pretty (don’t get me wrong, I’m loving it the same as everyone else 🫶🏼). Furthermore, the city has the most beautiful cemetery we’ve ever seen: the coffins are ‘stored’ in constructions which can be as high as a two-story house, and each ‘coffin nook’ has a little window in front where friends and family can display anything they want in memory of the deceased - photographs, flowers, but also sweets, coca cola, beer and cigarettes are on display and tell you a little bit about the deceased. Super interesting to roam about, and all the very modern and beautifully done murals throughout the cemetery make it a place where you can easily spend hours!
The cemetery is certainly not the only place with murals, mind you. As with so many cities in south america, the colourful and huge paintings can be found all over the city and invite you to stop and marvel every each and other step 😲. La Paz even has one whole neighbourhood completely painted in bright colours, a super fun variety for the eyes in the midst of the otherwise plainly brick-red buildings of south america 🌈!
As mentioned before, la Paz is very well-known for many high-class yet very affordable (for us tourists, at least) restaurants. Accompagnied by our German friends which are HUGE foodies 😄, we therefore explored two of the most popular high-class restaurants and, after they left, even had one evening all by ourselves (call it date night if you like) in another one of the place-to-be’s. However, and maybe also because we usually prefer simple food over experimental kitchens, we were not impressed by any of the plates served - Alina even got food poisoning from one of them (presumably - you can never tell for sure where the stomach bugs come from when in Bolivia) 🤷🏻‍♀️. So unfortunately, our very enjoyable stay in la Paz ended with one and a half days in bed (or on the toilet - thank you Bolivia for having aircushioned toilet seats!) and a missed nightbus. Moral of the story: If they say everyone who visits Bolivia will be food sick at least once, believe them. But don’t let that hold you back - there are too many delicious things to try (and you will get it anyways) 😉.Read more