La Paz ... Peace?!?!?!

Though we didn't end up spending much time here, La Paz did seem to be a place that was worth more time. It is a bustling metropolis of people and traffic with beautiful look outs, the "death road" biked by many tourists, fabled markets and lots of variety on the food front. Of course there are a few big, snow capped mountains near by as well.



Though we didn't have much time as we had hoped, we did manage to taste ice cream and the gooey local empanadas ( pizza pocket style delicacy.) We visited a chocolate shop and brought home all sorts of flavours of chocolate. We spent a morning wandering the streets buying the last of our souvenirs. Who knew it would be so hard to find an alpaca blanket? We'd been warned about the llama fetuses in the witch market but it was still strange to see all sorts of items and trinkets that get used in rituals we don't understand. We spent the afternoon at the Coca Museum, where we got a lot of insight in to this local tradition. The hotel we stayed at had a great common area with a fireplace and a portable DVD for when we were tired of the crowds. It was such a treat but we did have to sleep in separate beds (no doubles.)

The shoe shine men all wore balaclavas. This anonymous element allowed them to be a little rude with out you knowing who they were. We found them to be a more aggressive then any where else. Over all we found people to be very friendly and generous, especially the American Airlines ladies who helped us sort out our flights. Thanks for a great visit Bolivia, short and sweet.