After my little forced stop in Miami I finally made it to La Paz. What a welcome! The airport is at almost 4.100masl and even downtown is still at 3.600m – Hawaii and Miami didn’t really help to prepare for the altitude 😂.

But it’s an impressive city nestled in a valley! Since I arrived at 6am I had to keep myself occupied and not go to sleep. So I strolled through the city to get a first impression. They have installed a system of cable cars through the city to facilitate an easier transportation from and to the different parts of the city. A ticket is 3 Bolivaros (0,40€).

 

 

A few more impressions from the city. The colourful clothing of the Bolivaros very much sticks out!

 

 

 

I also couldn’t resist checking out the local fish market and what they had to offer. After I had to give up my fish tank a year ago I was curious to see what they were selling. And, no surprise – fish from Central America and the Amazonas of course. I had a little expert exchange with the owner who was noticeably impressed by my knowledge of the scientific names of most of the fish in the shop – my nerdy childhood home turf… 🤓

The Loki hostel (http://lokihostel.com/la-paz) turned out to be the perfect spot to begin the journey. Directly met people in my room who I went on a tour today and also will continue on a tour to the famous Salar de Uyuni (just sitting in the 10h night bus now while writing).

After a second day in the city which I used to explore more and to get organised I went on a tour to Chacaltaya, a 5.400m high mountain in the vicinity of the city, and to the Valle de la Luna, an eroding clay valley which has formed stalagmites.

The he mountain tour of course was not my usual style – taking a bus to 100m below the summit and then having a 20′ walk. But I figured it would be good for my acclimatisation. It’s good to get your body a bit higher during the day to spark the production of red blood cells and then to sleep lower to get better rest. “Walk high, sleep low!”.

 

And what can I say. The tour description said bring warm cloth because it’s cold up there – the weather forecast said -2C. I figured for the short amount of time I would be ok in shorts (of course I brought my rain pants and a rain jacket – just in case). All of the warm blooded South American folks on the tour thought I was insane 😂. They had at least 2-3 layers in their legs and multiple layers over their core plus gloves and beanies. What can I say – she’ll be right! 😎🤙🏼

 

And the Valle de la Luna! Very unique!

 

 

Next stop Salar de Uyuni. Buying a bus ticket is a journey of its own. First the tours were sold out, the nobody wanted to sell us a bus ticket two days in advance (mañana, mañana 😂) and when we finally had a confirmed ticket for 9pm it was still not really sure if the bus would go at all. When I came back from my tour today I bumped into another guy in the hostel who told me that he was going to Uyuni as well and he just called them and found out that they had moved the bus to 7pm. We compared tickets and guess what – same company! So we rushed out of the hostel to catch the bus. Long story short – we were there at 6pm and the bus eventually left at 9.30 😂😂😂