Bolivia is not your run of the mill travel destination. To visit this country is to visit the true heart of South America. Where else can you see indigenous ladies wearing their traditional colorful layered dressed and bowler hats, a tropical paradise and snow-capped Andean mountains all in the course of one day?
La Paz will take your breath away in more ways than one. The world’s highest capital, it lies at 4000m above sea level. It’s surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks during most parts of the year. Taking a taxi to the city center, you will feel like you are driving into the gaping mouth of an extinct volcano.
The witch market in La Paz is an experience you are not likely to soon forget. Here you can buy all sorts of witchcraft items, including a llama fetus which you can bury beneath your new house for good luck. A little further on is the vast open air market of 16 de Julio where you can buy everything from electronics to a 5 piece drum set or a wireless reading device.
Don’t leave La Paz without bringing a visit to the famous coca museum, depicting the history of coca farming in Bolivia. If you thought that coca was only used to produce cocain, you are in for a surprise. The indigenous people have been using it for centuries to make tea, for medicinal purposes and to chew as an antidote to altitude sickness.
Not many people probably know that a well-known soft drink using the coca name used to contain cocaine for decades – this practice only ended in 1929. Maybe that explains why your grandfather was addicted to a certain soft drink…
If at all possible, try to attend the biggest festival in La Paz, the Festividad del Senor del Gran Poder, held in winter every year. During 2009 more than 30 000 dancers took part in this amazing display of costumes, music and dance. It’s a whole day event, lasting from about nine in the morning until late in the night.
Should you be an avid skier and you have access to Alpine skiing equipment, you should consider taking a day trip to the nearby ski resort of Chacaltaya. At 5400m this is the world’s highest ski resort. We are now talking about the same height as that of Everest base camp, so unless you are totally acclimatised to the attitude, you will probably find that you can hardly breathe, never mind ski.
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