La Paz Day 257 02/06/2015

A few days ago when we arrived in Sucre we looked into how we would get to our next stop in Oruro. When we found out the bus would retrace our steps to Potosi and then take 10 hours to get there, before having an early start the next day to La Paz we decided to give it a miss and head to La Paz direct. We then discovered that all the buses took between 12 and 14 hours and went overnight. Therefore our desire to witness the stunning countryside as we weaved up and down the Andes was not possible. We had a quick look into how much it would cost to fly thinking it would be cost prohibitive. To our amazement and delight it was very cheap at only £50 each so it was a 'no brainer' and we booked the flight. We had an early breakfast at Casa Verde, said our goodbyes to Rene and took the 20 minute taxi ride to the airport. The check in, security and boarding were all hassle free and we were up in the air bang on time at 0940. We crossed the Andean mountains and foothills below us, for the short 40 minute flight to La Paz airport, located above the city on the Altiplano. Despite the altitude (the airport is at 4060m) the landing was very smooth although it did take an inordinate amount of time to come to a stop. We certainly wouldn't be keen to fly here direct from the UK (or anywhere at sea level). The runway is apparently 5km to allow for the time required to take off and land plus the planes have to have specially reinforced tyres to withstand the reduced pressure. The city itself is one of the most cosmopolitan in South America but it is also one of the most dangerous too (if you read Lonely Planet or a host of other similar sights you would give it a wide berth). However it is meant to be very beautiful and one we wanted to experience plus it was on the way to Lake Titicaca. We had booked the Hotel Rosario, which was just over our budget but it looked a nice hotel and is located in the more touristy part of the city. We had pre booked a taxi with the hotel and found our driver waiting for us as we left the arrivals hall. We drove down into the large valley where the city nestles along the 3750m floor. The surrounding sides of the valley are covered in red brick properties and the backdrop are some fantastic snow clad peaks of the nearby Corderilla Real. The traffic and noise as we neared the centre was the usual chaos and volume for this part of the world and we arrived just after 11am at our hotel. As our room was available we were able to check in and spent a couple of hours reading into what we fancied doing here for the next couple of days. We then walked a couple of blocks further down into the narrow alleyways where many local artisan shops are and found a cafe with a balcony overlooking one of the streets. After nachos and lemonade we headed to the Plaza to check out where Red Tours start their city tour which we we planning to do tomorrow morning. After confirming it started at 1100 we walked back up the road on which our hotel was feeling the heat of the sun and the effects of the altitude. So much so we thought we deserved a cake. We came across El Cafe de Mundo and had a chocolate overdose, with Diane having hot chocolate to drink and chocolate banana crepe to eat, whilst Simon went for a chocolate milkshake plus a large dish of crushed Oreos with lashings of cream. We almost raced back to our hotel with our sugar rush, although Diane immediately crashed and had an afternoon's nap. In the evening we went to a local Cuban restaurant and had a tasty meal before heading back to the hotel.

Enjoying our last breakfast at Casa Verde 

Our plane to La Paz 

A rather large chocolate overdose