La Paz, Bolivia

Hola! Buenos Dias!

Greetings from the highest capital city in the world! La Paz, Bolivia lies at 3650 meters (around 12,000 feet) above sea level. At this altitude the weather can be very cold and severe. In fact, the first night we were here a hail storm swept over the city, leaving the streets white and the street vendors scrambling to cover their goods. Summer in Bolivia (remember that the seasons are opposite here) is the wet season, while the winter is quite dry. As it is now late autumn, we are almost into the dry season but as you can see few storms still come through!

The city was founded and built in a large canyon in the mid sixteenth century. Nearly 3 miles wide, the canyon is now filled completely by the city. A large main street runs along the floor of the canyon and anywhere you go away from it is UP! Covering the sides of the canyon are thousands of houses, shops and narrow streets. The canyon walls are so steep it seems like the buildings could just fall right off! You can get a glimpse of these crowded hillsides behind these city buildings .

La Paz has dozens of colorful markets, selling just about anything you could think of. Most anything you might need, including food, clothes, toiletries, CD's, household goods and much else can be bought from street vendors. In fact, we buy just about all of our meals from street vendors--delicious! My favorite is the salteña, which is a pastry of beef or chicken wrapped and baked in a cornemal dough. Here you can see a woman selling fresh cheeses, or quesos, a Bolivian specialty!

Another thing Bolivia is famous for is its weavings. There are many different traditional styles which are made into wall hangings, clothing, bags, hats, gloves, even placemats and napkins--just about anything you could think of. Generally alpaca, llama, or sheep wools are used. Alpacas and llamas are very closely related--in fact they are also related to the guanaco. Do you remember the guanacos I talked about in Patagonia? Here is just a sampling of the different kinds of beautiful weavings we have seen here.

Something very interesting about the people here is their dress, especially the Bolivian women. Many of them still dress very traditionally, with large pleated skirts, woven sweaters, shawls (chales) and scarfs (bufandas). They often carry their things on their backs, in bundles wrapped with colorful woven tapestries. Because the Bolivian sun is very intense, especially at this altitude, wide brimmed hats like the one this woman is wearing are very common.

La Paz is such an interesting city, full of energy and excitement. It seems like every little street hides something unique and special!