It’s funny how quickly your life can change direction in even a month and I can’t believe a spur of the moment decision has led me to the highest capital city in the world, La Paz, where I am now sitting at a rather old and frustrating computer in a little internet café. Soon I’ll embark on a trek from Bolivia to and around Peru over a few weeks, where I will see some of the most fascinating sights and wonders and hopefully meet some interesting people!
I woke up yesterday morning at just gone 3am, having hardly slept at all and suffering from fidgety excitement. My mother saw me to the departure gate which was sweet of her, but once she had gone I felt waves of anxiety come over me as I thought about the journey I was about to embark on alone. As I enviously watched couples and groups chatting and relaxing whilst waiting for their flights I started to wonder what I had been thinking, with wanting to just take off last minute on my own like I had. I haven’t travelled alone alot, but in order to grow and learn more about the world and myself, I have started to force myself to take chances and to experience situations (within reason) that scare me.
And so, I found myself getting on the first of three flights yesterday morning, first to Madrid, then on to Lima and finally landing in La Paz about 24 hours after the start of my journey.
The longest flight from Madrid to Lima was just over 12 hours, and although I’d never been on a plane for this long before I found it surprisingly bearable. Ok, I couldn’t sleep but I had my creature comforts in the form of warm socks, iPod, earplugs (very handy as I had screaming children in the row in front of me), several books and a warm blanket. The inflight movies also kept me occupied for a couple of hours. By the time the last flight had landed in La Paz I was considerably weary and ready for bed. I had lost the power of polite conversation and now had tunnel vision, the only thing registering in my field of sight being the EXIT sign.
La Paz was built in a huge canyon created by the Choqueyapu river and the airport to the west sits at an altitude of 4058 metres (13,313 feet) above sea level, almost half as high as a jetliner’s cruising altitude. When you disembark you are advised to walk slowly to the departure gate or risk becoming out of breath or suffering possible medical problems due to the thin air, however when reading this I hadn’t really taken it seriously. Big mistake! It was late at night and I was anxious to get to my hotel, but after a brisk walk to customs I found myself feeling alarmingly light-headed and faint, not great when you’re on your own and don’t have a friend to prop you up in the queue.
The customs officers looked quite scary, if only because there were so many of them, and before stamping my passport took the time to suspiciously inspect it and then me. My suitcase then set the electronic alarm off but when I opened it to be checked, the officer merely picked up a couple of pieces of my carefully and neatly rolled clothing, checked there was nothing underneath, and then closed the case, not even checking down the sides or to the bottom!
Finally – I was at the airport exit, and excitedly scanned the small crowd of signs for one with my name on. Nothing. Trying to ignore both my rising panic levels and the rising number of taxi men now crowding around me muttering Spanish fares, (obviously I had that face on that says I’ve been abandoned), I was about to phone the hotel and hope someone would be there to pick up the phone at 1.30 in the morning when a man suddenly appeared with my name in big bold letters on a white card, whisking me off to the warmth and dryness of a cab right outside. The ride to the hotel gave me my first delighted glimpse of the city stretching out above up on the hill and far down into the canyon, thousands of little orange lights twinkling though the rain splashed windows.
Coming into town we went through a ‘downtown’ area with lots of rubbish on the streets and dodgy looking men on all the corners, and some of those abduction stories you read about in the paper unhelpfully started running through my mind in full colour and sound. When we reached the hotel it was dark and locked up and I was worried that I might be left outside with the dodgy looking corner men, but within seconds someone had let me in, checked me in and taken me up to a surprisingly nice room. As I was staying in basic accommodation I wasn’t expecting much, but I was so happy to have a decent room and my own bathroom, as well as relieved to finally be there safe and sound with no plane crashes or abductions, that I gave the taxi man and the porter each rather large tips! …. Oops.
Rooftops of La Paz
After sleeping for about five hours I went down for breakfast this morning and then ventured out in the rain to explore the city. So far I’ve been onto Saganara Street, La Paz’s main tourist (market) strip filled with souvenir stores, hostels, cafes and tons of other backpackers. It’s a fusion of colour and especially once the rain had stopped I really enjoyed walking around taking in the different shops and watching the people come and go.
I always love watching other backpackers and trying to work out where they are from. For some reason even if I don’t speak to them I get really excited if I hear an English accent! I guess it’s because it’s so far from home and a slight comfort amid the jostle of Spanish voices surrounding me. I’m also slowly picking up the Spanish I learnt back home again as I go.
People-watching in La Paz
The Witches’ Market
I had time today to visit the Witches’ and Black Market which was packed full of people jostling each other, revealing their hidden goods when the time was right. The streets are very steep and you’re always either walking uphill or downhill, and I regularly found myself having to stop and catch my breath or feeling dizzy. The car fumes are overwhelming at times and there’s no escaping them, when you’re gasping for air it’s the only thing to breathe!
All in all, I felt very safe walking around the city on my own, I didn’t get hassled and there were plenty of other tourists everywhere I looked. The city was loud and the air filled with the sound of car honking but to date I still haven’t found a place noisier or harder to navigate than India. I also visited the San Francisco church but as I only have one day here the thing I’m enjoying most is just having a wonder around and getting ‘lost’ in the city so I can get a real feel for it before I leave tomorrow.
La Paz is very interesting in the sense that you can see the society divides in the geography – the lower you go, the more affluent, with the richer houses located in the lower neighbourhoods (because the lower you go in the city, the milder the weather) and the surrounding hills plastered with makeshift brick houses of those struggling in the hope of one day reaching the bottom. It’s all very vibrant and lively, and feels good to finally see some of South America!
One of the steep streets
A boy playing amongst pigeons in one of the Squares