The City that Touches the Sky

La Paz, Bolivia

You know how you usually have another good half hour on a plane when they first begin their descent into a city?  Not the case in La Paz!  The airport sits at 13,500 ft above sea level (the highest airport in the world) making the prepare-for-landing portion of the trip a lot quicker than usual!!

Our first glimpse of La Paz literally took our breath away!  Not only is it an extraordinarily unique looking city,  we felt the effects of the high altitude immediately!  Our first day was a complete right off as we were so dizzy we had trouble standing up straight, seeing straight and suffered some pretty intense, throbbing headaches.   On our second day, fatigue and nausea set in and once again, none of us were in really fine form to explore the city.  Little by little, we did set out each day to do some exploring - I guess you could say La Paz must be savored over time!

feeding pigeons in Plaza Murillo

stopping for some fresh squeezed juice - only 30 cents a glass!

feeding the hungry again :)

at the local market ... how do these ladies get into their spots?

how things work without the yellow pages

The city of La Paz sits in a bowl that is surrounded by high mountains.   At the bottom of the valley you'll find the heart of the city,  and looking up from the center, the surrounding hills are plastered with brick houses.  We learned that the geography and altitude reflects society, but with a bit of a twist.   The lower areas of the city are where the more affluent live, the higher up the sides - the poorer.  The altitude difference from top to bottom is 1,000 meters so if you can afford it, you want to live where it's a few degrees warmer and you're not as short on breath!  One would think that you could get used to the elevation, but even those that live in the city say that if they are away even a few weeks, when they return they feel the effects.  Even in the hospital, if you watch people climb the stairs, it is very slow, methodical, and no one really 'rushes' around (on their feet that is ... the driving is a bit of a different story!!).

the view of Mt. Illimani from our apartment window

From the moment we left the airport we were surrounded by beautiful people.  Not necessarily by our North American/Hollywood (backwards) standards of beauty but people so striking and rich in culture.  Coming from Chile where most of the population looks and dresses in a similar fashion to North America, you can't help but notice the people in Bolivia.  While there is western clothing here too, many of the women, called Cholitas, dress in a more traditional, native style.  There is a lot of meaning to their outfits - from the way their hat sits on their head to the number of skirts they wear - it reflects social and marital status.  We noticed it's a bit of a commitment to wear what they do :  leggings made from alpaca wool, several skirts, a sweater, apron, shawl ... considering we were plenty warm most days in pants and a t-shirt :)

can't leave the men out ...

On our last day in La Paz, we went to a place called Moon Valley.  With its desert-like landscape, it is an oddly eroded hillside maze of canyons and pinnacles that have been sculpted by wind and rain.  Not that I've been, but it's supposed to resemble the landscape on the moon.

The scenery was nice, the sights were interesting, the people were beautiful but the absolute best part of Bolivia for us, was meeting the Mujica family.  I mentioned in my previous post that we had met some angels in La Paz  ... you might expect to in the city that touches the sky ;-)  About a week before flying to Bolivia, we did the usual search online for accommodations.  We booked a 3 bedroom apartment that was clean, safe, comfortable, modern and centrally located.  We ended up with much more than a pleasant stay in an apartment ... we left with a friendship that we will treasure forever!!  The Mujica family took the time to welcome us to the apartment, orient us to the surrounding neighborhood, introduced us to merchants nearby, helped us book tours, showed us where to find groceries and where to get our laundry done ... and that was just the first day!  This entire family also helped translate and ask those hard questions of the doctors that we needed answered for our peace of mind, sat and waited up late with us during Max's surgery, took Stella home to be with them so she could have a good night's rest and have pancakes in the morning and play with their dog, brought us food to the hospital, and if that weren't enough, invited us all to come stay with them in their home while Max recovered!  They are some of the loveliest, most generous people you will meet on this planet and we feel so blessed to have shared many laughs, some tears and some wonderful meals together.  We genuinely don't know how we would have managed our medical emergency without them.  We are so overwhelmed by their hospitality and hope to see them again one day when we finish this trip that we started or when they visit us in Canada.  (hint, hint Farinia!) 

Stella and Nattie (family friend)

Duke and his 2 new best friends :)

wish Fernando could have been in this shot!