We reach Bolivia by bus, traveling by bus from the Lauca Park in Chile. Our trip begins from La Paz which, with its 4000m of altitude, is the highest capital in the world. Dominated by Illimani mountain, the city in nested into a deep canyon.
The feeling we had when we arrived was extremely confusing. From the silence, the sense of peace and tranquility of the Lauca Park, we found ourselves catapulted into the liveliness and the noise of this city with its one and a half million inhabitants. Children playing on the streets, women selling snacks in traditional clothes with their typical bowler hat and long braids, shared buses from which drivers yell the destination, and really a lot of traffic. Welcome to La Paz.
The city is divided into four macro areas: El Alto (in the upland), La Paz-El Prado (the historic center), La Paz Sur (the residential and economic area) and Sopocachi (the financial district).
The most interesting area from the tourist point of view is undoubtedly concentrated in the central El Prado district where two important squares are located: Plaza San Francisco and Plaza Murillo. The first one, with its homonymous church, is the largest and most lively square in the city. There, you might find shoe shines, writers (or better, people who type letters on commission), photographers with old-fashioned machines… it is worth sitting on the steps of the church for a moment and watch life passing in front of your eyes. On Plaza Murillo, instead, there is the Cathedral of La Paz, the Government Palace – the official residence of the President of Bolivia, also called “Palacio Quemado” (the burned palace) because of the repeated fires that had damaged it. Talking about shopping, Calle Sagarnaga is definitely the most touristic street in La Paz: here, you will find everything.
If you want to experience a more “local” life, you have to go to the Mercado de Hechicería (witchcraft market) which clearly represents the superstitious soul of the Bolivians whose daily life is marked by numerous rituals. In fact, the various stalls sell tucano beaks, cow horns, dried birds and miraculous potions for every need.
A very common ritual, for example, is to bury a llama fetus under the foundations of the house in order to protect the building from natural disasters. The Incas used to make many sacrifices with llamas and, apparently, this tradition survived even after the fall of their empire.
These populations mostly worship the Pachamama, which means ‘mother earth’ in Quechua. She was the goddess of agriculture and fertility, worshipped by the Incas and other populations of the Andean plateau, such as the Aymara and the Quechua.
A few hundred meters away, Calle Jaen (the colonial street of museums) is worth the effort. This is also the city of ‘miradores’, that is, panoramic viewpoints that offer a memorable view of the canyon. There are several miradores: among them, the most popular are the Killy Killy and El Monticulo mirador.
La Paz is an excellent start for visiting the country, thanks to the dense network of coaches that cross the entire region. From here, there are also excursions to the Bolivian Amazon.
