Like most big cities, La Paz also has a sightseeing bus tour. There are two routes, one going down through the fancy parts of town to the valley of the moon, and the other exploring the historical center.
The different parts of La Paz are arranged so that the richest quarters are in the city's lowest areas, at around 3000m of altitude. The higher the altitude - and the colder the climate - the poorer the inhabitants. The poorest district, El Alto, is located at about 4000m. The lower areas are about 10°C warmer than the higher areas!
Valle de la Luna is a fantastic landscape with eroded sandstone pillars of various shapes. It certainly looked like it belonged on another world:
When I arrived in the morning, it was freezing (yes, the below-zero kind of freezing!), but the day cleared up very nicely - perfect for sightseeing! This is San Francisco church:
This is a random street; you can see how everything in La Paz is located on hills:
Some of the streets were open air markets, filled with tiny stalls such as this one:
Traffic in the city can be terrible, especially at rush hour. As Bolivians tend to use their cars' horns quite liberally, the administration put up these signs, saying "silence is health:"
Of course, people don't really care and happily continue with their beloved stress relief/noise pollution.
Finally, we also visited the Kili-kili mirador which offers stunning 360° views of La Paz.
A funny/sad bit I learned during the bus tour concerns life expectancy and retirement age in Bolivia. Life expectancy seems to be around 60 for men and 66 for women, while the retirement age is 65. So, statistically, men don't get to profit from retirement, and women only for a single year. Sad, isn't it?
The different parts of La Paz are arranged so that the richest quarters are in the city's lowest areas, at around 3000m of altitude. The higher the altitude - and the colder the climate - the poorer the inhabitants. The poorest district, El Alto, is located at about 4000m. The lower areas are about 10°C warmer than the higher areas!
Valle de la Luna is a fantastic landscape with eroded sandstone pillars of various shapes. It certainly looked like it belonged on another world:
When I arrived in the morning, it was freezing (yes, the below-zero kind of freezing!), but the day cleared up very nicely - perfect for sightseeing! This is San Francisco church:
This is a random street; you can see how everything in La Paz is located on hills:
Some of the streets were open air markets, filled with tiny stalls such as this one:
Traffic in the city can be terrible, especially at rush hour. As Bolivians tend to use their cars' horns quite liberally, the administration put up these signs, saying "silence is health:"
Of course, people don't really care and happily continue with their beloved stress relief/noise pollution.
Finally, we also visited the Kili-kili mirador which offers stunning 360° views of La Paz.
A funny/sad bit I learned during the bus tour concerns life expectancy and retirement age in Bolivia. Life expectancy seems to be around 60 for men and 66 for women, while the retirement age is 65. So, statistically, men don't get to profit from retirement, and women only for a single year. Sad, isn't it?
