La Paz - Part 1

Originally this was going to be one post but I think there are too many photos of Bolivia & La Paz so I'm gonna break them up into two different posts. Getting across Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian side is an adventure in itself. They lack bridges so everyone basically has to get out of the bus and take a motorboat across the lake while the bus itself goes over in a ferry. Normally you would think that it's a safety related issue (in case the ferry sinks with a busload of people) but remember, this is Bolivia.


So it's more likely that it's too heavy of a load for the ferry to cross the lake with a fully occupied bus. At least it's a nice break to stretch your legs for an hour or so. Plus you can look around at the nice monuments and what not, like this one down below on the lower left. It commemorates the War of the Pacific, back in the 1880s or so. Chile won and took away the Bolvivian land that connected the country to the Pacific ocean, thereby condemning Bolivia to being the poorest country in the western hemisphere, next to Haiti of course.


There appears to be some latent hostility in the monument so I don't think Bolivia has quite managed to move on beyond it yet. Sort of like all the "the south will rise again" types in the USA that are still fixated on the US Civil War nearly 150 years after the fact. Anyway, I wish we had some stylish monuments like this in the USA, it would really liven up the standard stock of war heroes riding horses and pointing-onward-with-their-swords. Or, if you live in Dallas-Fort Worth, endless sculptures of cows and horses.


Anyhoo, once you arrive in Bolivia it's sheer urban mayhem to the exponential latin american degree, which is saying something. It's a sprawling city of two to four million people (I never found anything exact about that number) all over a bunch of mountains down into a valley with the most confusing road system you've ever seen. And I thought the hills and stairs in Cusco Peru were bad... ha! They were nothing compared to La Paz. In fact, in retrospect, I now LAUGH at Cusco stairs after being in La Paz.


On the left is one of the main tourist streets of La Paz but you could be pretty much anywhere in the city since it's a fairly typical view. I don't think the concepts of zoning and code regulation have quite reached the country yet, as you'll note a pretty heavy-duty combo of power, telephone, and coax cable lines hanging right above the street... very typical.

There's quite a bit to see and do in this part of town and, since I was in Bolivia, what better way to kick off my tour than with a visit to the coca leaf museum? While I was there, I learned all about this magical plant. Plus I got to see an actual (non-functioning) cocaine lab that demonstrates how the leaf is processed into cocaine. However, the most interesting thing I learned is that although Coca-Cola may not use COCAINE in their soft drink, they DO use the coca leaf for part of the secret flavor recipe. At least according to the Bolivian propaganda, anyway. So who knows.

I also learned how back in the 1960s, some comments from the U.N. turned the coca plant into "the most demonized and misunderstood plant in the world". They single handedly made the livelihood of countless coca farmers more difficult, including the current president of Bolivia (Evo Morales), a former coca farmer himself. More about him on the next blog, but due to what he and his political party MAS are attempting to ram-rod through the congress, I was fortunate to be in Bolivia for some massive protests (more so than the usual in Bolivia) and riots that resulted in three deaths and hundreds of injuries. Basically Hugo Chavez is sending the Venezuelan army in "at Evo's request" to help instill some order. Left unsaid is to also continue the Bolivian country's march to socialism/communism, now that things have hit a roadblock in Venezuela since Hugo's dictatorship referedum failed last Dec 2.

So, after the cocaine museum, I then went over to the tourist zone and stumbled upon the witch's market. Here you can buy such rarified goods as eye of newt, dried toads, or a mummified llama fetus, as displayed on the left. And with Christmas on it's way next week, don't despair... this year I'm getting mummified llama fetuses (feti?) for EVERYONE on my Christmas shopping list! I don't want any fights over the feti, so everyone gets one. I also like to be the most original Christmas gift giver.


That's it for "La Paz, part one". Next time I'll pick up with part two, where I can continue the tour of La Paz plus review the political situation that unfolded while I was there. Riots, death, mayhem, midnight-closed-door votes on a new constitution, senators and governors escaping in helicopters, and (as revealed this week) going into hiding over in Peru. But before that I'm headed to the fine beaches in Uruguay -- Punta del Este -- tomorrow, so I'm not sure when part two will be posted. Meanwhile, live in the moment and enjoy this one, ha.