The long road to La Paz

Our journey through Bolivia continued as we headed north to Sucre, the judicial capital of the country. It’s a beautiful city which still boasts colonial architecture and is supposedly located in the most purely indigenous region. While we were relaxing in the plaza one afternoon, we came across hundreds of local farmers protesting the criminalization of coca leaves. The coca leaf is considered sacred and has been used since Incan times as medicine and as their equivalent to a cup of coffee. Besides the plaza, we visited the Mercado Central on a daily basis – by far our favorite market in all of Bolivia. Fresh fruit shakes, chicharron, huge maize kernels and delectable salteñas…all ridiculously cheap and fucking delicious. I would insert a picture here but unfortunately TD lost our camera. Boo!

An overnight bus later and we finally made it to the big city, La Paz. What a visual trip! Geographically, it’s astounding as the hillsides spill into the valley center. Millions of people live here and you can see the segregation between socioeconomic classes – from the poor El Alto to the wealthy Zona Sur. We loved the chaos in the streets, where anything you could want is available. Piping hot saltenas? Shoe repairs? An alpaca poncho? Perhaps a dried llama fetus to take home as a gift for mom? La Paz kicks some serious ass.

We were also lucky enough to have a local connection through mutual friends who previously visited the city. Paul, who is US born of Bolivian descent, was a really great guy. Not only did he give us the insider scoop on La Paz, but he also went out of his way to hang out with us an invite us to parties. I think a big part of the reason why we had such a great time there is because of him. And we have to give major props to his restaurant, Namaste – if you’re ever in La Paz and want delicious vegetarian meals, you know where to go.

We are sad to leave but the rest of Bolivia beckons…