The Long Way Down, Up and Around: La Paz

So while I wait on my battery ... some pictures from La Paz!

It´s a tough city to describe. Geographically, it´s built in a valley (looks like a crater), with tenements going all the way up the sides of the valley. The city becomes wealthier as you go lower, with the wealthiest area at the very bottom. There, it´s mild and springtime all year round. Up top is a giant overgrown slum-turned city called El Alto, and at almost 14,000 feet it is cold and windy up there.

It also might be the most indigenous city in all of South America, and it feels that way. Aymara and Quechua are the go-to languages. The streets are full of vendors selling everything from oranges to electrical cord. Some neighborhoods feel more like the Middle East than South America. And, sadly, its very dirty and polluted. The main river running through the city is basically an open sewer and the idea of being conscientious about litter or even human waste hasn´t quite taken a hold yet. Leave your flip flops in your hotel room!

That´s why it seems most people love or hate La Paz... it has that raw energy that you find in Africa or the Middle East, but also the drawbacks associated with it. It is inexpensive (my haircut was $1.50!) but it can be frustrating too (the slowest internet yet.) There are pockets of modernity in a sea of traditional living. And the city keeps growing up and out as subsistence farmers from the rural parts of the country make their way to city to try their luck at a new life.

So I took a walk around the city, got my aerobic workout for the day (doing steep hills at 10,000 feet is good cardio) and tried to capture some of the city´s character. Now I´m holed up at a smoky cafe, with Pink Floyd on the radio, drinking $1 smoothies and cafe con leches while my pictures crawl their way onto the cloud computers at Google. It´s all part of the adventure...