La Paz – Walk in the Clouds

By gondola over the city

When we first looked at La Paz we only had one thought, „Wow, the city is huge!“ The vast majority of La Paz lies in a valley at about 3,600 meters above sea level and is home of about 1.4 million people. In the south there is the 6,400 meter high Mount Illimani and watches over the bustling metropolis.

We arrived at La Paz by bus in the afternoon and got a first feeling for the city as we drove through the streets by taxi. Previously we had booked a day in the same hostel as Luisa and Niko and wanted to explore the city together. While we had dinner we were planning the following days.  

The next morning there was a moment when we longed for our skis and snowboards. This thought overtook us when we stood in front of the brand new Doppelmeyr Cable Car, which leads straight across the whole city. We were so excited that we went by gondolas from district to district half the day. In La Paz the cable cars can be used as a normal means of transport and they are a fast way to come to be from A to B especially for the poorer part of the population. For just 3 bolivianos (about 40 cents) it went up for us to „El Alto“. Because we didn’t find a really good vantage point, we looked for an alternative and asked in a stand if we could use their private terrace. If it was the smile of Andi and Niko or the Spanish of Tina and Luisa we do not know but we were on the terrace actually and enjoyed the incredible view over the entire city.  

Itchy Feet insider: Since gondola riding makes very hungry, we followed the smell of grilled chicken and ended up in the „Pollo a la Lena“ (Calle Belisario Salinas No. 300). A juicy and spicy chicken that is grilled until crisp at an open fire. Seeing this we did not deliberate long.  

With full bellies we roamed the seemingly endless souvenir shops behind the cathedral and stocked up on clothes made of 100% Alpacka [:)]. Socks, hats and gloves ended up in our luggage. With deep pockets and a smile on the face of the girls, now the boys should get their satisfaction and we booked the mountain bike tour for the Death Road at Baracuda Travel.  

You can learn more about our adventure on the Death Road here read:
https://anti-itchyfeet.com/portfolio/death-road-camino-de-la-muerta/

Our last day in La Paz we spent with Luisa and Niko in the cafe „El Mundo“ and indulged ourselves some things. ;) Before that we bought a bus ticket towards Cochabamba for this evening to fly from here to Trinidad in the jungle. But as it often turns out differently as you think the next day we sat in the plane to Rurrenabace. The short-term plan amendment resulted because a clerk in the hostel looked at us with big eyes and said, „No one flies to Trinidad to go into the jungle“.  

Luckily we took his advice. But more to our experiences in the jungle later.

Salutes from fare away,
Tina & Andi from Itchy Feet