That’s how bus operators praise their destinations at the bus terminals. After listening to this melody for 30 minutes in Copacabana, we were glad when the bus finally left. Laid out in a canyon on 3200 to 4100 m, La Paz is the administrative capital and seat of government of Bolivia and counts over 2 million inhabitants. Two majestic mountains overlook the city, Mount Huayna Potosí and Mount Illimani. We entered La Paz by bus through the neighbourhood of El Alto and were very pleasantly surprised by the ambiance of the city. We perceived it as extremely lively, vibrant and authentic. The Aymará people dominate the streets and countless markets take place daily. While we were there, the festivities of “el dia de todos los santos” on November 1 and 2 were to be prepared and celebrated. We noticed that something special was about to happen, because on the markets large varieties of flowers, pastries and bread in the form of men, women, horses and Ilama with porcelain or plastic masks as faces were sold. We then read up on the festivities and found out that in La Paz they are a combination of Aymará culture – where the deaths are believed to descend amongst the living family members during 24 hours and are welcomed to a richly decorated table – and the Catholic practice of “All Saints”, where the deaths are remembered. If you are interested further, we have found this movie, which explains it quite well. As traditional and colonial La Paz is at first sight, as progressive it can be as well. Along the main axis – El Prado – one can find all global players of big companies as in any other big South American city. Since 2015 La Paz is proud owner of an urban cable car network (built by the Austrian/Swiss Doppelmayr/Garaventa group). The lines are red, yellow and green (representing the colors of Bolivia’s flag) and intended to free the city’s streets of the heavy traffic. Considering the difference in altitude of the city, a cable car really seems to be the best choice. We walked up the manifold stairs to the neighbourhood El Alto one morning and took the red cable car line back to the center – for the Swiss, it felt like being in a mountain resort at home.
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December 2016
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