My time in Ecuador is almost complete, so before I leave South America for Asia, I've come to Bolivia for a bit of tourism. My plan had always been to have some backpacking time after I finished work in Ecuador. As this panned out, I only have three weeks before I need to get to Japan to start my next job. So three weeks isn't much time for backpacking, but hopefully I can take in a bit of Bolivia and southern Peru, before returning to Quito for one night to collect bags and set off for Tokyo.
The main thing about La Paz is its altitude. It is around 3,650 meters (11,975 ft) above sea level, which means oxygen is scarce. In fact, it is not recommended that anybody fly here direct from low altitude. I came direct from 19 months living in Quito, another high altitude city, but still the thin air got to me. It is difficult to walk up stairs or hills at high altitude, and La Paz is all hills. You adapt with time, but until then any exercise results in a racing pulse, headache and a general feeling of knackerdness. Though it is a nice place, with plenty or quirks. One of which is llama products. Llama meat is sold in the restaurants and dried llama fetuses are sold on market stalls for good-luck symbols. It also has a very large indigenous population. Below are a few of my photos (and a graph).
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| Height above sea level in meters |
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| Plaza Murilllo, La Paz |
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| La Paz: A city in the clouds |
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| In the roads around government buildings there are permanent military road blocks. |
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| Indigenous women protesting crime and corruption |
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| Dried llama fetuses, and dried baby llamas for sale in la Paz, along with other nik naks |
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