La Paz, Bolivia

We arrived in La Paz from Sucre on an overnight bus. Actually, we arrived in El Alto, the huge indigenous suburb above La Paz, because the bus ran out of gas ten kilometers outside of the city, forcing us to find a taxi at six in the morning. We spent a couple of bus-exhaust filled days in La Paz, the de facto capitol of Bolivia. The city is a huge, bustling metropolis that fills a giant canyon, and is filled with hundreds of exhaust-spewing mini-buses and taxis. We enjoyed the international cuisine and saw some great churches and even went to a museum devoted to coca leaves, but in the end we were happy to leave La Paz for the sake of our lungs. Living in La Paz must be like smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Here´s a view from the hills outside the city: -Naomi