When approaching La Paz at night it looks like sky scrapers encircle the valley center of the city, towering over the few tall buildings that exist in the middle. However, as you ramble closer you see it´s not buildings, but houses and shacks that climb the montains around the city and their lights blanket the valley. These mountainous peaks would be a challenge to climb, yet somehow homes exist.
La Paz is a unique city in many regards... I think. I actually saw very little of the city by day, except if you count 3 out of 5 sunrises I was still awake for. I do know I managed to rack up a hostal bar tab over twice the price of the room (and that bar closed at 1 am), found excuses to celebrate stuff with white people from all over the world, and toured the city via taxi under the late late cover of dark. I don´t even have any acceptable pictures to post from the city, but it is visually attractive.
Besides the late night debauchery, the highlight of the city was the big decent.
Bike tour of "the most dangerous road" ... plunges 11,647 ft over 39 miles. Nicknamed the "Death Road" because so many cars went off the side of this one laner that´s positioned atop a curvy cliff and hugging a mountain side. With the recent opening of a new road few cars still use this road, but bike tourists have continued to justify the name with 3 dying already this year (according to the guide).
No one died from our group but a girl fell off (speed wobbles) and broke her two front teeth in half. The next day another girl from the hostal fell and got a concusion.
A good trip and a big rushLikely the second most deadly road
20 hour bus trip north to the junlge town of Rurrenabaque. The trip covered only 450 kms so we averaged about 15 mi per hour along one lane cliff roads (for two way traffic) with the only protection being a blaring horn warning oncoming traffic of our approach.
Pampas Tour
From Rurrenbaque went on a 3 day tour in a carved out tree canoe around the Pampas Del Yacuma, a fluvial pain of the Amazon Basin.
We saw some wildlife:
Went Anaconda hunting
How not to hunt for Anacondas, demonstrated by the Swedish girls being terrified of mosquitos
How to hunt for Anacondas (I think) ... unfortunately no Anacondas this dayWent fishing for Piranhas
and swam in the murky waters with river dolphins, not far from where aligators lounged in the sun or lurked just below the water (apparently alligators are afraid of the dolphins). Best quote was from the guide, "En Bolivia, todo es possible, pero nada es seguro." (In Bolivia everything is possible, but nothing is safe)
and swam in the murky waters with river dolphins, not far from where aligators lounged in the sun or lurked just below the water (apparently alligators are afraid of the dolphins). Best quote was from the guide, "En Bolivia, todo es possible, pero nada es seguro." (In Bolivia everything is possible, but nothing is safe)
Sorota
Visited tranquil hillside village of Sorota, hoping to do some mountain biking, but the guide was out of town and I moved on after relaxing for a day.
Lake Titicaca
A few hour stop in the lake-side town of Copacabana before taking a 1.5 hour boat ride to the Isla Del Sol.
Met up with a guy from the Pampas tour and a few others and stayed in a hostal with a great view of the lake.
Met up with a guy from the Pampas tour and a few others and stayed in a hostal with a great view of the lake.
The room looked a bit like a jail cell, but it was the cheapest room of the trip so far... $2.04
Hiked around island in the morning, about 20 kms
got lost in mountain side farm plots
wondered through small villages
Local gals chatting up the group trying to sell a random mixture of quality homemade goodsNow
Arrived in Cuzco, Peru this morning. Likely venturing up to Macchu Piccu in a few days.
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