OMG, I can't breathe !! Here I am in La Paz, squillions of metres above sea level, actually when I got here I thought, "hey, this isn't so bad" ...but then I started actually walking. Bloody hell.
So I left Copacabana on a local micro-bus thingy, thought it was about time I got back to local transportation rather than these proper coach affairs. So I'm sitting squidged between 2 locals who are munching away on handfuls of popcorn (part of the staple diet over here) and I have to say the award for most stunning bus journey so far goes to Copacabana to La Paz, particularly the first half. The views of Lake Titicaca as we steadily rose up to the antiplano were beautiful, the clear blue sky, the lake sort of shimmering a wonderful blue colour and the snow covered Andes in the distance - wow. I was thinking in the bus how much now I am oblivious to the traditional garb the women wear, here I am surrounded by women wearing bowler hat type head gear with their big colourful skirts and babies wrapped up in blankets slung on their backs - I think I would stare if I saw a kid being pushed along in a pram !
When you arrive in a city there is usually a moment of "where am I ?", of course you never can be sure exactly where in the city you are going to arrive.La Paz has 3 main bus station areas and I was hoping to arrive at the one that was near the main hostel area.... no such luck, we pulled up in some small market area and a tourist police officer approached me,he tld me we were in an area called "the cemetery" -lovely. But this guy was great,asked me where I wanted to go, told me how much I should pay for a taxi, got me a taxi, noted down the reg number and driver ID details and then sent me on my way. Obviously La Paz is making a concerted effort to ensure the safety of tourists, good on them. I was hoping to book into a place off the main drag but, for the first time I think on my travels I was out of luck, the place was booked up, no room at the inn. So I asked the guy where he could recommend and he directed me to another area, about 10 minutes walk.... that's when I noticed the altitude and lack of oxygen, lugging my backpack through a crowded market area,out of breath within seconds. I found a hostel, quite expensve but to be honest I couldn't be bothered to go further.
So,I've been here a couple of days, the city's location is pretty impressive but it hasn't grabbed me like Quito did. It is incredibly busy, it seems to be virtually impossible to walk along in a straight line anywhere as everyone walks so slowly due to altitude but even at my slowed down pace it's irritating trying to get past all the dawdlers- think Oxford Street x 10. The shoe shine boys are quite a sight, they all wear these woolen balaclavas, presumably to help against the traffic pollution but of course that makes them look like terrorists jumping out at you to convince you that your shoes need shining !
So, I'm off to Uyuni tonight and hope to do a tour of the salt flats.
A couple of interesting points by the way .... I fell upon an episode of "Long Way Down" on cable tv the other day and you can't imagine how much willpower it took me not to watch it, I know the DVD is waiting fr me back home ! Over here though they call it "Ewan's world travels" - poor Charley !
My second team (Liga from Quito) won the Copa Libertadora - the South American version of the Champions League, so proud of them.... Dermot emailed me to say, what with Liga winning that, Seville winning UEFA cup maybe my first team Boro can't be far away from Champions League glory !! Ah, but a distant dream !!
Dad, pleased to hear you got my bike going - thanks ! Bruv, hope you've enlarged the catflap enough, the llama I've got for you is a bit of a fattie xx !
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