In addition to my day trips to Titikakka Lake and the scary ride on the Death Road, I stayed a couple of more days around La Paz to explore the city and to feel the Bolivian way of living. It’s not a secret that Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, but on top of that, and that’s only my impression, it’s unlikely tourist-friendly. It happens everywhere, especially in poor countries, where the prices differ for tourists and locals. For example, the national park in Puerto Madryn, where I have seen penguins and whales, is cheaper for the locals than tourists. It would be best if you tried to give the locals access to their national parks as they wouldn’t have been able to purchase the ticket at the tourist price. On the other side, the money from the tourists is needed. So I get that the price is higher for a tourist. In addition, in Bolivia, I had so many occasions where they tried to scam me.
Just three examples:
- For example, if you book a tour to visit a national park, the entrance tickets are most likely excluded from the tour price. Initially, the tour guide typically collects the money for the entrance fee and returns the tickets for the whole group. In Bolivia, it’s mentioned during booking that you have to bring extra cash for the entrance (in my example, 30 Bolivian Pesos). After the guide purchased the tickets, we saw on the tickets that the price was half… So, what’s the point of scamming us here?
- Second, I had that almost every day, if you pay cash at a store or restaurant, they give you back a lot of coins and notes to distract you. If you are too lazy to count, you might lose money. In one case, the waiter gave me only the HALF back. That’s annoying.
- Last but not least, the tour agencies are trying to tell you everything to sell their tour. During the tour, you might discover that what they said was false. Either the bike has been in the worst shape ever (bike tour), or your lunch is just an olive or all of a sudden, it’s not allowed to take luggage with you.
La Paz itself is a loud and stinky city. The traffic is horrible. This is the first time I have seen something like this. Sometimes, a 2km ride in the city during rush hour takes an hour. And as a pedestrian, you are always close to dying in traffic. The cars in La Paz do have a “blinker”, but they rarely use it. It happened to me twice when I was using a crossing, stripes on the street, obvious for me to walk here safely, and suddenly, a car on the main road changed direction and crossed my way. Both times, I touched the car as it was THAT close…
An hour (by car) away from the city center, you will find the moon valley. It’s an impressive rock/sand sculpture area made by the water in the past. The entrance is 15 BS (NOT 30!), and you can easily spend 2 hours there by walking the “one way” from the entrance to the exit. As you will not find any shadow there, you should bring sunscreen and a bottle of water 🙂
One hilarious thing I did was visit Women’s Wrestling in La Paz. Officially, it says that this unique spectacle unfolds as “cholitas”, women adorned in traditional attire, take to the wrestling ring, showcasing their athleticism and resilience in a thrilling display of a lucha libre-style combat. Yes, it has been women, and they fought in traditional dresses, and also, for sure, they are more athletic than I am BUT thrilling??? Not really! I was laughing for 2 hours straight. It’s so entertaining. I call it lousy wrestling without any acting skills. But this made it so hilarious. This show only happens on Thursdays and Sundays. So you have to ensure you get a ticket! It’s more than worth the money 🙂
Two hours bus ride, in the middle of nowhere, you can take (or please let an official driver do this) a road almost like the death road. Going up to mountains above 5000m, I had more than once the fear that the car would fall.
With some last steps to 5450m, you will be able to reach the peak of Chacaltaya. This mountain has been a skiing area in the past, but it now serves as a poignant reminder of the impact of climate change. It started snowing when I reached the top, but just a little bit… The view was amazing, for 5min…. Just enough to take some pictures.
In general, Bolivia might be a beautiful country, but I was very disappointed by the people. So I have no reason to come back, not like in every other country of South America I have seen so far. Sorry, Bolivia.
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