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La Paz is really two cities. Lower down in a bowl-shaped valley is La Paz itself. And above it, lies El Alto. Unlike La Paz, El Alto is well named, and at 4,095m above sea level, is the highest city in the world. It is also the poorest city in Bolivia, and is not a place even locals will walk through at night. Even during the day, pickpockets are rife, and my German chum Aaron got this phone nicked while wandering through the incredibly crowded market.
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| The market is quite a sight to behold and seemingly stretches for miles in every direction. |
Getting to El Alto - and indeed getting round La Paz in general - used to be an absolute nightmare. However, one of the legacies of the first indigenous president, Evo Morales, was installing a series of telefericos, or cable cars, to transport people round the city. Not only is it much quicker than sitting in interminable traffic jams, it also provides fantastic views of both cities. Tickets cost only 3 bolivanos (about 35p), and you could easily spend the day tootling around the 11 different coloured lines that have now been installed.
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| The view from the cable car |
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| Imagine stepping out the back to put out the bins and falling 200ft |
Aaron, Larissa, and I also took a trip to El Alto to witness the Colchita
Wrestling - a Bolivian traditional that apparently is a wee bit more "real"
than its WWE/Lucha Libra counterpart. Sadly it was not to be - one venue
we visited was all closed up and none of the locals had even heard of it,
and then we bombed it to the other end of El Alto where Google told us the
other event was - and there wasn't even a venue, let alone a closed one.
Still, at least I got to witness these lads practising in a ring set up near
the cable car station.
After 2 weeks, my lungs couldn't take much more of the traffic fumes, so
I just had time to catch a quick bout of gastric flu / food poisoning,
organise a bank card to be sent to a hotel in Chile (thanks Monika!), and
then catch the dreaded overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni and its salt
flats, then travel on to Chile.
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