La Paz is (depending who you ask) the capital of Bolivia, and at 3640m (about 12,000 ft) the highest capital in the world. It's right in the heart of the mountains, giving it some pretty gorgeous scenery, but also making it so that just about every street in the city seems to be steep, which was just fine by me.
Our hotel was right in the middle of the part of the city with all the markets, and our first destination after checking in was to visit the famous witch's market (Mercado de Brujas) that was only a 5 minute walk away. The market is a source of different sorts of charms and remedies, some as simple herbs and sometimes as... slightly stranger things. Because it has become such a tourist destination the entire area also now sells a lot of more touristy souvenirs. It's a little unfortunate, but that's just kind of the way the world goes.
For the people in the group this was one of the last days to do shopping before they returned home, and since we only had a part of the afternoon we mostly just stuck around the market area looking at different stalls.
The next day we got on a bus to head out to the Tiahuanaco archaeological site. Tiahuanaco isn't nearly as famous as places like Machu Picchu (I had never even heard of it), but it was the capital of an empire that ruled over much of western South America for more than 500 years, well before the Incas. The visit was split into a few parts, first checking out a museum about the history and finds, and then to visit the excavated ruins. I'm not going to go into tons of detail, partly because other than dry historical details not all that much is really known (there wasn't written language, so it's a lot of guesswork).
On the way back into La Paz we got a great view down at the city and the surrounding mountains, which just gives a good idea of how unique the city is.
The third day in La Paz was the final as a group. We mostly split up to check out different things (or for some, to relax in the hotel). I went with two others from the group to explore some of the other sites of the city, but I wasn't in a huge rush because I was planning to stay in the city for a few more days after the group was gone. We spent much of the day exploring some of the other nearby markets. Like a lot of places in the world, the markets seem to group similar vendors on the same street together, so if you want sewing materials you go one place, if you want tools you go a different place, if you want counterfeit clothing or dvds, you go somewhere else.
A few of us who were staying longer also met up with a special travel company to make special plans for the next day - a plan I had looked into a few months before, and was eager to try.
Our hotel was right in the middle of the part of the city with all the markets, and our first destination after checking in was to visit the famous witch's market (Mercado de Brujas) that was only a 5 minute walk away. The market is a source of different sorts of charms and remedies, some as simple herbs and sometimes as... slightly stranger things. Because it has become such a tourist destination the entire area also now sells a lot of more touristy souvenirs. It's a little unfortunate, but that's just kind of the way the world goes.
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| Llama fetuses. A key ingredient? |
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| Various charms and love potions |
The next day we got on a bus to head out to the Tiahuanaco archaeological site. Tiahuanaco isn't nearly as famous as places like Machu Picchu (I had never even heard of it), but it was the capital of an empire that ruled over much of western South America for more than 500 years, well before the Incas. The visit was split into a few parts, first checking out a museum about the history and finds, and then to visit the excavated ruins. I'm not going to go into tons of detail, partly because other than dry historical details not all that much is really known (there wasn't written language, so it's a lot of guesswork).
On the way back into La Paz we got a great view down at the city and the surrounding mountains, which just gives a good idea of how unique the city is.
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