Bolivia > Flying to La Paz

Bolivia - The Cathedral of La Paz with the Illimani volcano 6438 m in the background

It’s time to leave Sucre. We depart for La Paz. At nine o’clock, the bus is waiting at the hotel door. Our walking tour guide has also come specially to say goodbye and accompanies us to the airport. At half past nine, we can check in at the counter. Unfortunately, the scale breaks under the weight of the luggage (or perhaps more because of how we placed the bags on it?). The attendant has to repair and recalibrate the scale, using his own weight for reference. At 10:40, the plane departs for La Paz. During the flight, we are served yogurt and muesli. We also enjoy a stunning view of the snow-capped peaks of the Andes. After a 50-minute flight, the plane lands in La Paz. The luggage is loaded onto two minibuses and, through the very busy city traffic and via the toll road, we are taken to our hotel. Our hotel is located in the city center. La Paz lies in a valley, with the poor district of El Alto and the airport at around 4,100 meters. The city center sits at roughly 3,600 meters, and the wealthy neighborhoods are at the bottom around 3,200 meters. This makes La Paz the only city in the world where the rich live low and the poor live high. In the room, we notice that it hasn’t been cleaned yet. The housekeeper arrives shortly after. After Kristina’s explanation about La Paz, we can access our room. In the afternoon, we walk into La Paz via the Witches’ Market. At one of the stalls, I buy a wall hanging for home. Through the city center, we reach Hotel Presidente, a five-star hotel in the middle of the city. On the top floor, we order a small soup for lunch while enjoying the view. The waiter also shows us the bar on the sixteenth floor, which is technically closed at this hour. From here, the view over this global city is even more spectacular. Back downstairs, we make our way to the central plaza in front of the palace and the cathedral.

Bolivia - An overview of La Paz

We then pass the post office and the San Francisco Church before heading to the market behind our hotel, where a lot of counterfeit designer clothing is sold. The street climbs steeply. At the top, we walk back to the hotel via the regular streets. At six o’clock, we receive a briefing at our hotel from our guide for the Takesi Trail. On Kristina’s recommendation—she has already given us several good tips—we have dinner at the hotel. We enjoy a delicious meal, and around half past ten, we head to our room. Our key turns out to be missing at the reception, so a runner opens the room for us.