Top Travel Tip from La Paz

Never pack your favourite shoes next to your washing powder. Yes washing powder not Columbian marching powder (I haven't got there yet).

The good news is that La Paz is full of guys in balaclavas ready to shine your shoes for 5p. I gave them a good wash first (the shoes not the shoe shine boy - although he could have done with it) and they look like new again. I gave the guy 30p and he was pleased as punch.

The road to La Paz is not an interesting one compared to what has gone before so I won't bore you with that. However virtually the whole way from Oruro there is construction work for a major highway.

When you get to the suburbs it gets a bit more exciting. There are precious few sign posts, lots of traffic and you have to clear El Alto before you get to La Paz. It is probably the equivalent of going through Croydon to get in to central London.

I could see this was going to be a headache so I tapped on the window of an empty taxi at some lights, threw him my piece of paper with the hotel address and followed him.

As you leave El Alto you go through a Toll (the tolls for Bikes are free in Bolivia and Argentina but you pay in Chile), the Taxi pulled over and got out.. He waved at me to follow him on to the bank at the side of the road.

El Alto is at 4,500 meters and has 1 million of its own population. La Paz is at 3,600 meters again with 1 million. This is my Taxi driver who enjoyed being a tour rep for the moment.

It really is a "wow" as you look over the edge. Apart from the parks and Astro turf pitches, buildings are crammed in the valley and as far up the sides as possible.

He did a great job of getting me to the hotel and all for the princely sum of £4. It probably took 45 minutes.
Much better than a Sat Nav (which I don't have) and cheaper!

My hotel was a recommendation from Wilks, who stayed here a short while ago. All I can say he must be a bloody big tipper!
I parked the bike in their basement area and was checked in to room 1301. I got in the lift and it only has 12 floors. Si Senor as the porter brought my bags in to the lift.

Out we get at 12 floor and he proceeds up a short winding staircase. Only 2 rooms up here. They have  given me the Penthouse suite!

I haven't quite got the hang of hotels in Bolivia - it has been all or nothing (mostly nothing). This was a very pleasant surprise!

La Paz is much more what I had imagined a South American City to be like. BsAs and Santiago were rather European in comparison. There is a buzz about the place people and traffic (belching out the most God awful smoke from their cheap diesel). Street hawkers everywhere trying to sell you anything from drinks to batteries to stethoscope's weird eh? (I assume it is in reaction to the big medical college here in the middle of town.

There was a sit in demonstration by the country folk as they obviously don't think the government is doing enough for them. Judging by the work on the roads I think they will be able to get their goods to market a lot quicker and easier.

You will notice it is only the women complaining (nothing new there then chaps). To be fair, when you drive through the countryside, it is only the women you see working. It is them with the herds, them collecting firewood and them at the side of the road with the stalls. More often than not done with a kid in the blanket on their backs or suckling at the front!

I am sure the men folk are back at home doing the washing, ironing and getting dinner ready for her when she comes home from a hard day with the Llamas.

I wanted to get my front tyre changed over. This one still looked OK but had done 10,000 miles. Knowing that there was an highly regarded Motorbike place, i decided it was a good time to put the new one on. The ratio of rear to front tyres is running at about 3:1.

Whilst they sorted that out I went for a walk in the area. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera to this area of town where street after cobbled street is crammed with fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese.  All women and most of them in traditional dress. I am sure they thought "Who is that prat, walking around in motorcycle gear & he hasn't even got a bike?".

Not for the first or last time this trip no doubt.

I did get a bit of culture whilst I was here and not just a yoghurt at breakfast. I went to one of their contemporary art galleries, which was pretty good mostly local artists. Old Che still gets a lot of action here. I especially liked this one. Look closely and you will see it is made from Dominoes.

I thought of donating my Omo encrusted shoes but they had been cleaned by then.

The centrepiece of La Paz and their pride and joy is San Francis's.

It was originally built when Columbus came back for a second time. After 800 years of war against the Muslims (which they had finally got out of Spain), the Catholics wanted a piece of the action so sent some of their chaps over to convert the locals (circa 1540's). The trouble was that another chap called Pizzaro got there first and killed thousands of them off (with only 170 men). He killed their leader (sorry can't remember his name) despite being given 6,000 kgs of solid gold and 11,000 kgs of silver to be left alone.

The original is long gone but in the museum there are still some old remnants from the good old days. Not that you can see them from this picture!

You can go up on the roof and I did think, after my mutterings about the bloody "left footers" that if God was indeed a Catholic then he would have had me fall down the treacherous stone staircase!

I had heard so many tales of Bolivia being a den of cut throats and thieves that I was in two minds whether to even come here.
From my experience the people are very friendly and I have had no sense of dread at any point. The countryside is stunning and I think it would be a shame for people not to visit because of what you may have heard. A shame I can't get one of those bowler hats in my panniers.


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