Sudamerica Aventura: La Paz de Bolivia, 14-20 de Noviembre

This far north and still snow-capped Andes! Illimani, the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real at 6438m & La Paz the highest capital city in the world at 3660m.

Sagarnaga, the colonial and now tourist district.

From Volunteering at La Senda Verde we climbed back into the civilisation (and altitude) of La Paz. It was kind of strange having to think about fending for ourselves again having been accustomed to a working timetable and cheeky monkeys! Nevertheless we quickly embraced our old and very malleable timetable, or lack thereof, and got back into the swing of "what shall we do next...?"

After some solid washing catch up and internet time, we arranged a short flight into the Amazon (over the 26 hour bus ride) from where we arranged a jungle pampas trip (next blog), then returning to La Paz again. So we had a couple of days either side of the jungle trip to explore La Paz.

Sagarnaga

Having heard mixed reviews about the place we were pleasantly surprised with what was on offer, and especially enjoyed wandering the pedestrian streets, loads of markets, and plazas in the central district. The restaurants were in particular surprisingly good and extremely cheap - we slowly ate our way through a list of recommendations! Jugo de mango con leche (Mango juice smoothie) a return favorite for Clare!

A favorite for us was the Coca Museum, which magnified the history production and consumption of the small leaf. Of course, the leaves have played a major role in the culture and economy of Bolivia to this day. The cocaine component was particularly interesting - with an estimated 9000 small cocaine producing laboratories hidden deep in the Bolivian jungle!

As prevalent as coca leaves are (legally for indigenous purposes), you need loads of the stuff to extract the illegal component. Some 330kg takes a lab of 10 poorly paid men 12 hours to produce 1kg of cocaine paste, which is then further refined to the illegal powder. Amazing how much info was out in the open about the drug-trade with detailed illustrations about where the trafficking occurs in Bolivia!
Other history of the coca leaf was also interesting, most famously the use of cocaine extract in the original brew of Coca Cola (circa 1900's). The museum claims Coca Cola is still legally purchasing circa 200 tonnes of coca leaves per year for flavouring....

La Paz, the fella who invented hollow-core terracotta blocks is doing a roaring trade!! ...and in the process has extruded a national facade. There are just 4 construction materials now prevalent in Bolivia: terracotta, concrete with a sprinkle of reinforcing steel, and glass. If you're lucky your front facade will get a lick of plaster, and maybe even some paint.

Llama foetuses at the witches market - buried underneath
a new house to bring good luck...

Plaza Pedro D Murillo

The Worlds Most Dangerous Road! A big tourist draw card and must-do when in Bolivia. We were really looking forward to the decent via bicycle!

Yes this is actually Clare (L) and I (R), standing atop the
WMDR in our hardcore downhill gears!

Simple recipe really: 65km of downhill with a decent of more than 3600m!...on a full suspension Kona steed with hydraulic disc brakes - WICKED. The ride starts just outside La Paz at La Cumbre at 4700m, and decends from the muy frio Andean Altiplano to the muy caliente and steamy Yolosa at around 1100m in the Yungus Valley - one of the largest coca growing regions in Bolivia. We opted for a small Bolivian owned company over the horrendously expensive and hugely popular kiwi-owned Gravity, which meant there were a mere 4 of us rather than 30-odd. The ride was absolutely brilliant, the only disappointment being that it was over too quick!

It was extremely harrowing in places, with our guide pointing out crosses marking the sites of vehicle accidents; it was easy to understand how such a road with such drivers could afford its famous title. When this was the main road, which was up until 2007, it claimed an average of 100 lives per year.