My flight into La Paz arrived at1am. Cleared customs, my driver was waiting and off we went for what I thought would be the usual airport to hotel trip. How wrong was I. Within minutes we were driving through a virtual ghost town. Every building was secured by a roller door, there was no one to be seen and no cars. Not even parked cars. The only inhabitants were packs of dogs roaming the streets and scavenging amongst the piles of rubbish. In daylight hours this would have felt strange, but at 1.30 in the morning, with a complete stranger driving, in a city I had never visited, it felt more than a little uncomfortable. We travelled like this for about 10 minutes and then suddenly it all changed. La Paz airport sits at 4100 metres, making it the highest international airport in the world. The town of La Paz is at 3600 metres. Suddenly we were on the edge of an escarpment and the glowing lights of La Paz were 500 metres below us. It was an incredible sight. The road down was narrow and twisty and it took us about 30 minutes to get to the city. One of the strangest yet most spectacular drives I have ever had from an airport. I deserved my sleep in, so after getting some local currency, Bolivianos, I hit the streets. The first thing I noticed was the altitude and how quickly you run out of breath if you try to do things quickly. So it was best to follow the local advice "camina lento" that is walk slowly. The next thing I noticed is that it seems every street in La Paz is a hill. So you are either going up or coming down, there are no flat bits. I admire the women who walk around this place in stilettos, particularly as most of the streets are well worn, and at times, slippery cobblestones. And the third thing was just how chaotic it is. Traffic, pedestrians, street stalls along every street and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to any of it. If I don't end up as road kill here it will be by sheer luck. I found my way to a nearby Teleferico station. This is a cable car or gondola system that presumably was installed to ease the traffic congestion and cater for the steep terrain. There are currently 4 lines operational and two more under construction. Paid my 6Bs ($1.20) and climbed aboard. Fantastic view of the city and surprisingly the air was quite clear. It was strange to be looking at snow covered mountains when last week I was laying on the beach. My ride lasted about 10 minutes and I then opted for the 4km walk back to my hotel. Llama fillet steak for dinner with a whiskey and cream sauce. Very tender and very tasty. Washed down with my first Bolivian beer, a Huari. It's quite obvious that Bolivia has a high level of poverty. It's everywhere you look. And yet from my experience so far it is more expensive than Mexico. A beer for example is about twice the price. But La Paz seems to be a comfortable city to be in, despite the chaos. I'm sure the next few days will be interesting and enlightening.