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September/October, 2006
We arrived in La Paz, Bolivia on Saturday, October 7th, and prior to our actual arrival we weren't 100% sure we would make it to La Paz. When we left Buenos Aires, we had tickets which would only take us to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. However, we were assured by the LAB airline personnel in Buenos Aires that we could buy our tickets from Santa Cruz to La Paz at the airport in Santa Cruz AND it would be cheaper than purchasing the same tickets in Buenos Aires. Cheaper airline flights ... that sounds good ... except (and there's always an exception) we only had an hour between our arrival in Santa Cruz and the flight leaving for La Paz. In that hour, we had to get our luggage, clear through customs and immigration, buy our tickets to La Paz, check our luggage for the La Paz flight and catch the plane ... no problem right. Well, we (Rankin and I) were really skeptical ... we just didn't think we had enough time. Centime (Walt and Pat) encouraged us to give it a try ... what the heck, it's part of the adventure. So, after some hesitation, we just did it and we had 30 minutes to spare in between flights. We arrived in La Paz on October 7th ... not sure you could do that in the states. Our travel adventures continued, we caught a taxi and found our hotel, but there was a festival and many of the streets were blocked so our taxi driver had to drop us off a couple of blocks away from the hotel. No problem ... right. Well, we're now at 11,811 feet of altitude which makes it a little difficult to breath, we're dragging (or shall I say rolling) our luggage uphill through streets packed (absolutely packed) with people who've been, let's just say, partying for a while. Does anyone know how to say excuse me or get out of my way in Spanish? Just kidding. Needless to say, it made for an interesting trip. We finally arrive at our hotel, after passing by it once, and we get settled in for the night and order a pizza for delivery (yes, that's right pizza). We're already starting to feel the effects of the altitude and start chewing cocoa leaves (local remedy for altitude sickness). By the way, you're not suppose to swallow the leaves once you've chewed them up ... trust me, spit them out. We are scheduled to be in La Paz for only a little over a day, so the next day Rankin and I decided to rest and give ourselves time to acclimate. We had dinner that night at the Radisson ... that's right the Radisson. We were actually looking to dine at a local restaurant but had trouble finding it so a local man stopped and helped (it must have been because of the lost looks on our faces). We told him the name of the restaurant, but he said that we didn't want to go there ... we should go to the Radisson, so we went to the Radisson. We had an excellent view of the city and chateaubriand for about six dollars (US). It was delicious ...
Okay, enough. Now, here's some information about the city. La Paz is situated in the canyon of the Choqueyapu River below a plateau with an altitude of 3,600 meters (11,811 feet). The city is located at 16°30' South, 68°8' West. Its name is translated into English as "Our Lady of Peace". La Paz is renowned for its unique markets, very unusual topography, and traditional culture. It is the capital of a country that is often referred to as the "Tibet of the Americas". Founded in 1548 by Alonso de Mendoza at the site of the Native American settlement called Chuquiago, the full name of the city was originally Nuestra Señora de La Paz (meaning Our Lady of Peace). The name commemorated the restoration of peace following the insurrection of Gonzalo Pizarro and fellow conquistadors two years earlier against Blasco Núñez Vela, the first viceroy of Peru. In 1825, after the decisive victory of the republicans at Ayacucho over the Spanish army in the course of the South American Wars of Independence, the city's full name was changed to La Paz de Ayacucho (meaning The Peace of Ayacucho). In 1898, La Paz was made the de facto seat of the national government, with Sucre remaining the nominal capital only. This change reflected the shift of the Bolivian economy away from the largely exhausted silver mines of Potosí to the exploitation of tin near Oruro, and resulting shifts in the distribution of economic and political power among various national elites. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world, and is home to the world's highest golf course. The air is so thin that a well-hit shot will travel several meters farther than at sea level. Rankin was disappointed that he didn't get a chance to test this theory. On Monday the 9th, we left La Paz and took a taxi to catch our bus to Copacabana, Bolivia, located on Lake Titicaca. We thought we would have a leisurely bus ride to Copacabana, NOT. It was a little more exciting because there was a transportation strike. This means that the taxi drivers block the streets all around town with rocks, their taxis or whatever else they can find so no one can leave La Paz. After a couple hours of driving around and walking around town rolling our luggage behind us and still not used to the altitude, we were finally able to catch our bus which was located on the outskirts of town (so we could leave the city). We're on the bus driving around town again (free tour of the city is what we called it) trying to find a road out of town that was not blocked, then our guide slowly comes to us and quietly asks us to close the blinds and stay down and out of sight ... now, we're getting a bit concerned as if the guys in riot gear we saw earlier in the city didn't worry us enough. So, we follow his directions, wondering if we're ever going to get out of the city and finally we see that they have found a way out of town. Whew, three more hours and a ferry ride across Lake Titicaca and we arrived in Copacabana ... no problem.
Copacabana is an attractive town situated on the shores of Lake Titicaca about 4 hours by bus northwest of La Paz. Many travelers stop off in Copacabana for a day or two since it lies on the main tourist route between Bolivia and Peru. The town is famous for its ornate Moorish-style Cathedral. Built in the 17th century, the cathedral is home to the 16th century Virgin de Candelaria also known as the Dark Virgin of the Lake, who is attributed to working many miracles. She is Bolivia's Patron Saint and an object of worship throughout the Andes. During the fiesta of the Virgin de Candelaria in the first week of February, her statue leaves the cathedral and is paraded around the streets of the town.
On the northern edge of town is the hill of Cerro Calvario. The 30 minute steep trail to the top of the hill is lined by the Stations of the Cross. Local pilgrims climb the hill to pray for luck, sometimes on their knees. Some take small miniature models such as cars or trucks which they get blessed at the top in the hope they will be rewarded by the full sized version in the coming year. Unfortunately, we didn't hike up this steep hill ... we viewed it from afar. Copacabana is also the stopping point for trips to the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) which was one of our destinations. Isla del Sol is an island in Lake Titicaca. It is part of Bolivia. Geographically, the terrain is harsh; it is a rocky, hilly island. There are no motor vehicles or paved roads on the island. The local Quechua name for the island is Titi'kaka, which means "Rock of the Puma," a reference to the island's shape. The main economic activity on the island is tourism; fishing and agriculture for subsistence are also widely practiced. Many hills on the island contain agricultural terraces, which adapt steep and rocky terrain to agriculture. Among the ruins on the island are a table possibly used for sacrifice, a labyrinth-like temple, and a man-made waterfall which the Spaniards mistook for the Fountain of Youth. In the religion of the Incas, it was believed that the sun god Manco Capac was born here. You can actually spend the night on Isla del Sol but we chose to return back to Hotel Rosario, a very nice hotel in Copacabana.
After our visit to Isla del Sol, it was time to get moving again. This time we're off to Puno which is located in Peru ... a three to four hour bus ride across the border from Bolivia to Peru where we had to leave the bus and walk across the border to Peru. Of course, we returned to our bus for the remainder of our trip to Puno.
Follow us to Peru or if you would like to catch up on the latest travels, take a look at What's Happening. Don't forget ... keep coming back.
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