April, 2005
April 17-18 & April 23-25, 2005
La Paz, Bolivia is one of the highest cities in the world, and reputedly the highest capital. The center of the city is located about 11,300 feet above sea level in Bolivias Altiplana. The international airport in El Alto is located on a plateau above the city at about 12,300 feet above sea level. The Spaniards founded the current city of La Paz in 1549, choosing to build it in a canyon surrounded by snow-capped Andes. From here, Spain ruled over the Incan Empire it had recently conquered. Since its founding, the city has grown up the canyon walls and sprawled farther down the canyon floor. Although crowded and a bit polluted, the location, people, markets and food make it worthwhile visit at least for a few days.
We flew from Sucre to La Paz on Bolivias military airline - TAM or Transport Aero Militar - which was an experience in and of itself, and very cheap. Arriving on a Sunday afternoon, we spent the rest of the day browsing the wares offered by the numerous vendors lining Avenidas 16 de Julio and 6 de Augusto. Apparently these streets are closed to cars every Sunday. At the suggestion of our guide in the Potosi Mines, we also went to the Cocoa Museum just off of Sagarnaga Street, which runs alongside San Francisco Plaza and the beautiful San Francisco Church, which was built at or around the same time the city was founded in the mid-1500s. This tiny museum proved thoroughly interesting, giving a complete overview of the cocoa plant, including its political, agricultural, cultural, spiritual, and economic history. They even had some cocoa leaves for visitors to sample. Afterwards, we spent a few hours browsing the tiendas lining both sides of Sagarnaga Street and its offshoots. Of course, at the very cheap prices, we could not afford not to buy all sorts of llama, alapaca, and various other wool items that we do not need. We also ventured up to the Witches Market, where we bought some candies that ward off evil spirits and checked out the llama fetuses that supposedly do the same thing (although we could not bring ourselves to purchase one of these)!
While we soon leaarned there is no shortage of markets selling countless items f or very cheap in La Paz, finding somewhere to eat on a Sunday night in this town is a much more difficult task. We spent about an hour driving around in a cab looking for a place to eat. We went to four or five restaurants, two in Zona Sur, which had closed down since our guide book came out not too long ago, and three more in the supposed trendy and hip area, Saga, with bars and restaurants, before we finally found a decent, but not great parilla - a bbq/grill type restaurant. With full bellies at long last, we took advantage of the tons of movie theaters open on Sunday night, and saw Hitch. Yep, we admit it. We were craving just a little bit American culture and so Hitch it was, followed by bed since we had a flight early the next morning to Rurrenebaque.
After a week in the Amazon, we returned from Rurrenebaque to La Paz on a Saturday afternoon. We ate lunch at Alexanders Cafe (La Paz version of Starbucks with a food menu to boot), checked out some more markets and a few other areas of the city, and then met up with Scott and Nori (our new friends from Rurrenabaque & Parque Nacional Madidi) for some Japanese food at Wagamamas in Saga. Turned out to be one of the better meals we have had in a long time! We never would have expected fresh and delicious sushi and tepenyaki food in the middle of landlocked Bolivia, but alas, it was excellent. And, like everything in Bolivia, it was cheap. After some ice cream, we went back to our $10 a night hotel room at Hotel Torino off of Plaza Morrillo and crashed since we had to get up very early the next morning to mountain bike down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road.
DANGEROUS ROAD FROM LA CUMBRE PASS TO COROICO, BOLIVIA
April 24, 2005
This bike ride was awesome. It is essentially a 55 K ride down this crazy windy road from La Cumbre pass at 14,500 feet to Coroico, a tiny village in the middle of the Yungas. The first 17 kilometers of the ride are on a two lane paved windy mountain road, so you get used to the bike and the curves and the sheer drops on one side of the cliff or the other, dependng on where you are. Then, the road turns into dirt and rocks, and in most places is only one lane. Cars, trucks, buses, animals, and people travel up and down the road at regular intervals. And, as mentioned before, the road continues to be very windy with sheer drops, as well as several waterfalls and water crossings to ride through. To top it all off, it rained for a lot of the ride, which made evrything very muddy, slippery and foggy, but still beautiful. And, it was really fun getting so dirty!
Although it sounds pretty dangerous, the outfit we went with, Gravity Bolivia (www.gravitybolivia.com), takes safety very seriously. For $50 a person, they provide excellent equipment, including the bikes, safety briefings and tips, guides in front and in back of all riders, checkpoints and frequent rests, and they make you pull over when vehicles are coming. They also provide snacks along the way, beer at the end of the ride, and a towel, soap, and a hot shower, followed by a big buffet lunch at the Hotel Gloria in the town of Coroico. They will even put your bike on the bus for you if you get too tired going up the few uphill parts, which we are proud to say we did not, notwithstanding the elevation.
While we could hardly breathe during some of the uphill parts of the trip, we made it through fine, and had so much fun. We had great guides, Cody and Dandy, which added to the experience, as did the presence of Scott and Nori, the ones we met in Madidi the week before. If you get to La Paz, definitely take this ride.
