La Paz, Bolivia
After a one night layover in Santiago, Chile (to which I will return in some weeks), I have arrived in La Paz, Bolivia, the highest altitude city on earth. I´d heard bad things about altitude sickness, stories of people vomiting when they get off the plane, but so far it´s not too bad. A lot of people take buses into La Paz, but I guess there has been some unrest lately and blocked roads, so for the sake of safety, even though it´s much more expensive, I chose to fly.
So far it´s quite different than where I have been in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. A big city for sure, but a lot of indigenous people, and not overly developed. Most of the inhabitants are very short; the women wear many layered skirts, woven ponchos, and little hats. I´d take a picture, but a lot of people here will get upset, as the believe it steals your soul. I don´t expect too many pictures of La Paz.
I definitely stand out here. Before she left, Kate suggested that I dye my hair darker, but for the first time in my life I am kind of ok with the natural color. However, my hair, complexion, and style of dressing earns me long stares from the majority of people I encounter on the street. Not malicious ones, but definitely noticeable.
Also, every street is basically a very steep hill, since the city is built into a mountain. It´s really easy to get winded at such an altitude, and I have to walk slowly and stop often, even though I think I am in decent shape physically. It´s also a kind of confusing city, at first at least; a lot of the maps I have seen differ from each other.
The nice news is that I splurged for tonight and got a private room at a hostel. I have been staying in 4 or 6 person dorm rooms in hostels so far, and missing privacy. Bolivia is so cheap though, that a dorm room was three dollars and a private room was twelve. So, one night of sleeping alone I figured was worth it. Not sure how well I will sleep, as the room faces the street and people use horns here every second. The hostel itself seems pretty nice, though inhabited (upon initial glance) by that annoying breed of self-righteous backpackers that I tend to avoid. Perhaps I am just getting too old for the whole backpack and hostel thing.
Regardless...Bolivia. I was warned to have a little culture shock along with the altitude sickness, and neither are very intense, but still somewhat noticeable.