Friends in High Places (La Paz)

Member Name: Puggers

Product:	La Paz
Date:	30/04/09 (196 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Striking scenery, frenetic, lively pace, wonderful atmosphere.

Disadvantages: A little too hectic, an unfortunate combination of high altitude and lots of hills.

La Paz is occasionally dubbed the highest capital city in the world - this is partly true; lowland Sucre is Bolivia's constitutional capital, although 4,000 metre-high La Paz certainly plays the central role of the nation's cities. Its considerable altitude has hit the headlines of late after football's world governing body, FIFA, banned matches being played in the city, tired of the tendencies of Bolivia and its Andean neighbours, Ecuador and Peru, to switch home matches against the continent's big guns to high-altitude venues, handing them a distinct advantage while their opponents labour in the thin air. This caused considerable outrage amongst the Andean nations, fiercely defensive of their rarefied air, and the ban was eventually overturned after a campaign in which Bolivia's much-loved President, Evo Morales, took part in a football match staged high on a mountainside.


"Wherever you can make love, you can play sports."


Altitude, then, is a major part of visiting Bolivia. Even if you don't come down with the dreaded Soroche, the altitude sickness which decimates many visitors, you'll feel it in some form. However, equally capable of taking one's breath away is the first sight of La Paz - the effect perhaps multiplied by the distinctly underwhelming approach all visitors will make through the sprawling city of El Alto which surrounds the canyon in which La Paz lies. It's truly a stunning, slightly surreal moment when the dusty, worn-down and traffic-jammed streets of El Alto ('the high one') open up at the lip of the great bowl and clear air fills your eyeline. Look down, though, and La Paz spreads out beneath you. The most curious perspective of this lofty first impression is the tops of skyscrapers upon which you peer down; buildings which will soon tower above you from the city floor.

La Paz is a hectic, wildly busy place - it's difficult to find much serenity in a city whose frenetic energy seems unable to escape up the enclosing slopes. It is not, though, difficult to navigate around - a single street (El Prado) runs pretty much the length of the city centre, following the now largely subterranean Choqueyapu River along the valley floor. As such, if you're ever lost, simply head downhill and you'll end up back on this central thoroughfare. Another point of reference worth noting is the distribution of rich and poor relative to altitude; the poorest of all reside in El Alto above the basin, the richest live at the lowest point of the city south-west of the centre. The rest fill up the canyon walls, increasingly makeshift settlements lining the higher reaches.

La Paz isn't really a major tourist destination in its own right; there's little here one would file under "must-see". It is, though, a frequent stopping-off point for travellers heading north-south or vice-versa, or for those flying into the country, and the city makes an excellent base for a while, with good access to nearby, more attractive places. Lake Titicaca, very much a key point on the "highlights of South America" trail (insomuch as one exists) is a couple of hours away by bus, while the historically important if visually unimpressive ruins of Tiahuanaco are an hour or so to the west. The Peruvian border is also close.

If you are staying in La Paz for any amount of time (and there's good reason to do so), your time is less likely to be filled by well-known attractions than by simply exploring at leisure and absorbing the breathless pace (I'll stop with the altitude puns, really). Plaza San Francisco, with the imposing Cathedral of the same name dominating it, makes a good place to start - you'll run into it a mile or so south of the bus station on El Prado.

This could reasonably be considered the centre of the city, or at least serves the purpose well for travellers looking to get a sense of La Paz. From here, head up either Calle Sagarnaga or Santa Cruz and plunge into the network of street markets that may well provide the most enduring memories of the city - there are plenty of stalls selling relatively commonplace goods; tourist trinkets, cheap and delicious food, often quite excellent artwork - but you'll also encounter the weird and wonderful Witches' Market. Browse around here for your less standard souvenirs - fancy taking a Llama foetus home? You've plenty of choice.

The majority of the city's tour/excursion companies are also housed on this part of the hillside - shop around and have a chat with the owners to find the best deal. It's best to be both very clear about what you're paying for and relatively easy-going about what you end up getting; the "tourists' special" bus I took out of the city to Copacabana, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, stopped everywhere it could along the way to fill up every spare inch of room - the seat across the aisle taken by a man with a bag of chickens on his lap.

When you've had your fill of the delights of the backstreets behind San Francisco, head back to El Prado, and take a left (up the slope), wander up to the busy intersection and turn right onto Ingavi. There are more direct routes to this street, but the view straight along here, cutting through the packed-in buildings of the city to the 6500-metre peak of Ilimani, the second-highest mountain in Bolivia, is worth the detour. Four blocks along Ingavi, the street opens up into Plaza Murillo, a beautiful, leafy square almost out of keeping with much of the rest of La Paz. The surrounding buildings are suitably attractive, too - the Government Palace especially striking. From here, the football stadium, Estadio Hernando Siles is another kilometre or so along Comercio for those interested - just outside it, Tiahuanaco Square is a recreation of the distinctive style of the nearby ruins.

To get an intriguing insight into another aspect of Bolivian culture considered close to the hearts of many of its people, the Coca Museum is on Calle Linares, just south of our starting point of Plaza San Francisco. To get there, head downhill from Plaza Murillo and jump a couple of blocks up on the other side of El Prado. The museum provides an enlightening account of Coca's many uses, both illicit and otherwise - President Morales, always a man to fight his corner, has given many an impassioned defence of the substance.

If and when you tire of the city, one day-trip which gets plenty of recommendations from those brave and/or stupid enough to try it is the mountain-bike descent of "the world's most dangerous road" (sounds tempting, huh?). Dropping a vertical kilometre or so on its way from La Paz to the town of Coroico, the track is actually a lot safer than it used to be when bikers shared with everyday traffic. The cars now take an alternative route, but an often narrow trail with a sheer drop on one side is only so safe. In truth, few if any manage to navigate off the edge, but a fair amount of injuries are sustained from falls at speed. If you fancy it (and it is talked up greatly by those who do it), Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking seem to be a well-regarded company.

La Paz, then, is not a classic tourists' destination; you probably wouldn't want to spend weeks here - it's a little too hectic for most tastes, and there isn't really that much on offer in the city itself. However, it's a good base to travel out from, and offers good transport links - something not true of everywhere in Bolivia; it can be frustratingly hard to get about at times. As an experience of a South American capital, it's a good choice, too - more enjoyable than Lima, for instance. For those spending a few days, La Paz offers more than enough - just take it easy, breath deeply and try not to get sick of the hills. And if that fails - you can finally purchase that Llama foetus Grandma's always wanted.

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One final altitude-related titbit from the sporting world; the former club doctor of lowland football team Blooming Santa Cruz recently admitted giving his players Viagra in an attempt to combat the effects of altitude sickness when playing away games in La Paz. Mixing it with fruit juice, there were apparently no unwanted side-effects during matches - nonetheless, gradual acclimatisation is probably a better remedy for travellers.

Summary: The high-altitude, high-paced centre of Bolivian life.