FRIDAY – LA PAS – REDEEMING ITSELF

Yesterday we saw the negative aspects of Bolivia as we came into La Pas but today we saw its redeeming features. Even the market stalls outside our window don't appear as unruly as they appeared yesterday and the roads seem to be easier to navigate.

We started the day with a walking orientation tour of the city in the vicinity of our hotel. What is the feature of this area are the numerous stalls that are set up on the sides of the roads. Somehow the traffic and the pedestrians get through. There is an complex several blocks down the hill from us which consists of hundreds of market stalls selling everything you could possibly need.

One of the streets we explored is the oldest street in the town, only wide enough for pedestrians and consisting of heritage listed houses which can't be significantly altered or demolished. Note the suburban area spreading up the mountain in the background.

 

After the walking tour, we were collected by a van and taken to Moon Valley. The soil around Le Pas, including that on the sides of the very high mountains surrounding it consists of sandy clay which erodes like large drip castles thereby creating areas like Moon Valley. It also means that, in the right conditions, there is significant risk of landslides on the outskirts of the city.

In heading for Moon Valley, we saw a completely different Le Pas, a modern orderly city with wide streets, defined traffic lanes and traffic lights that people obey.

We were also able to use the most efficient public transport system one could devise for a city with the topographical challenges that Le Pas has - cable cars. There are a number with more being planned designed for use by commuters to get vehicles off the congested streets. We rode the green one as distinct from the yellow one or the red one which service different areas.

Tomorrow our Amazon and Inca tour officially ends and on Sunday, we head back to Santiago for a few days before heading for home. We have had a mostly fantastic experience but it will be good to get home.