La Paz is an insane city! And for every pigeon there is a shoeshiner, so basically lots of both haha. We arrived and immediately were in search of a hostel. We found one for cheap but it was a crap hostel with really loud rude tourists so the next day we left in search of a different hostel. We were in La Paz for 9 days total and we stayed in 3 different hostels, our second one was the best though. We spent most of our time in La Paz wandering around and avoiding getting hit by the immense amount of vehicles in this city. I hate shopping back home but we have done quite a bit in La Paz, and I found I still hate it but I had better luck. I picked up some things for family and friends back home and another nice sweater for myself. I even had to buy a duffel bag in order to bring all my s*** back home YAY! Besides shopping and eating really good food (also great vegetarian option restaurants in this city :) muahaha) we went on another free walking tour, which was also superb.

We met up at San Pedro Plaza and the first 15 minutes or so were dedicated all to the San Pedro Prison. Years ago tourists were allowed to go inside and see the prison but "shockingly" due to the increased amount of theft and rape of women tourists, it is no longer allowed. We learned that the prison was built for roughly 400 inmates but there are over 2,000 currently residing within and they must pay a monthly fee in rent. The poorest pay about 50 bolivianos (about $7.25 USD) and many sleep under the stairs or any extra floor space whereas the rich end pay roughly 5,000 bolivianos (about $720 USD) and they have Jacuzzis, saunas, and plasma screen TVs set up. Not much of a prison if you ask me. About 80% of the inmates are in this prison due to drug related crime but the kicker is that San Pedro Prison is one of the top producers of cocaine in the country...so clearly there is no corruption or anything HA. After we learned about the prison and the "sugar" trade we continued on and walked through a huge farmer's market that extended to about 40 blocks and then we made our way to the Witch's Market.

At the Witch's market the most prominent item you will find are dried baby llama fetuses, which locals purchase and bury them under their house for good luck. Originally Michelle and I were horrified at seeing all the fetuses but our guide explained that they must die of natural causes for people to sell, they aren't going out and slaughtering hundreds of baby llamas, so that was a relief to hear. Also on our tour we got a GREAT history lesson, you can't tell but I am being sarcastic.

Well in 2003, Bolivia had this jackass President named, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada or nicknamed "Goni" who exported Bolivia's gas to Chile and Brazil for insanely cheap thus leaving the country on a gas shortage. People could not feed themselves so naturally they were upset with Goni. In response the people protested and the government responded by opening fire on them in public squares. Eventually the people won and Goni was forced out of office but before he fled he withdrew half of the country's bank account and fled to the wonderful land of Maryland. So now 11 years later, the US government is providing him amnesty because if they release him back to Bolivia, the people of Bolivia would get their justice. So naturally Bolivia and the US are on rocky terms, isn't that just all so pleasant, NOT! While learning all of this we were in Plaza Murillo, where the Presidential Palace is located, and where the shootings took place in 2003.

However, we also got more older history of Bolivian Presidents. Including one from the 1950's who was trying to conduct positive reforms for the Bolivian people but at the time the people thought he was corrupt and doing wrong. So he was overthrown by getting literally thrown out the window on the second story of the Presidential Palace and then was later hung from a lamppost that is in the square. Once his successor took over, everyone realized that the prior President was actually good, so a statue of him was put in place at the lamppost where he was hung. It is now referred to as "Bolivia's most awkward statue." Oh history is always so fun and happy. So that all was the walking tour.

The other noteworthy La Paz events were visiting the Moon Valley, cycling The Death Road and I got a new tattoo.
La Valle de la luna (Moon Valley) was small but incredibly cool. Getting there was a challenge but we finally found the bus that goes to the town of Mallasa which is right next to the valley. Take the yellow bus number 46.
Essentially this area was surrounded by monoliths and pinnacles and the entire area really did appear as if you were on the moon. There was a 45 minute route & 15 minute route so of course we did the 45 minute one twice and the 15 minute one. We saw a couple of hummingbirds and several dozen sparrows but I was hoping to see a viscacha, kind of like a larger rabbit. But apparently there are a lot in Salar de Uyuni.

Now with the Death Road.
This is the worlds most dangerous road and is also known as the Yungas Road. Four years ago it was the main road for transportation but now it is open just for the cyclists and the tourist vans. For roughly the first 45 minutes or so we started at 4200 meters above sea level and cycled on a pavement highway with cars and trucks cruising by us. It was incredibly beautiful, we were surrounded by snow capped mountains and the rush of zooming downhill was exhilarating. Originally I thought I would be going slowly but I zoomed down the entire way but still felt safe. After the cemented road we got into our van for 20 minutes and made it to the actual beginning of the Death Road. There were 6 of us in our group plus our guide and we took our time doing the road because our guide continuously stopped us for videos or photos, which I am not complaining about. I was focused on actually biking that I took hardly any photos. There was this one 18 year old French kid in the group who was just speeding by all of us so I nicknamed him Turbo, but once we were on the road I was close behind him so he called me Turbo 2. The entire ride was so breathtakingly beautiful and once I am able to upload photos/videos from the CD I was given I will. After about 4-5 hours total we made it to the end. 64 km (39 miles) later and roughly 3,000 meters down in elevation.

One of the guys in my group later told us how only 2 weeks ago a young French tourist had died from going over the cliff. Apparently on average 20 or so people die a year from biking this road, so we were glad we heard this story after we cycled down. My heart goes out to all of the victims of the Death Road but being safe and cautious is the key. I admit I went fast but I always felt safe and I did not do stupid things like trying to film myself. For all my readers out there, I absolutely recommend doing this if you ever make it to Bolivia. I may like adrenaline and feeling a rush but the entire experience was absolutely amazing and I will never forget it. Absolutely my highlight of my trip.

The day after the Death Road, we were back in La Paz and I got a new tattoo. It only took about 30 minutes and it was not exactly what I wanted but it would have been virtually impossible, so I am happy with what I got. For those who know me well, you'll know I love traveling and seeing the world but the ocean is my true love. And in particular I love coral reefs and hope to do more work with them again, so my tattoo incorporates the world and the global coral reefs.

On our last day in La Paz, Michelle and I woke up early in order to take the worlds largest urban gondola from La Paz to El Alto in order to visit South America's largest flea market. We were on the newly constructed gondola/cable car (opened in February) for about 15 minutes or so and we were able to get amazing views of the entire city. A few days prior we walked up to Mirador Killi Killi, where we did get a great view of this city but the gondola was even better. The city of La Paz is built in a vast basin with immense mountains surrounding it such as Huayna Potosi and Illimani which are huge snow capped peaks. Oh and the flea market in El Alto was insane. So much crap like rusty car parts and endless amounts of clothing items. We were glad we went early because as time passed it was getting difficult to walk because there were so many people.

Overall I am glad we spent quite some time in La Paz but also cannot wait to move on and get out of these huge cities. Next we are heading to Oruro to take a train to Uyuni so we can do our Salar de Uyuni 3D/2N trip there. For those who do not know, Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world so that will be another exciting thing to see. I will be posting another blog after Uyuni.

Oh totally random but I just remembered this and I had to write about it. One day when Michelle and I were walking around the city, this s*** little girl (probably about 12 or so) was driving by in a collectivo van and yelled out at us for no reason " GRINGAS, GRINGAS." Our response was yup you're right, I am white and I cannot change that. It was really rather ridiculous. But overall summary, THE DEATH ROAD WAS AMAZING AND I SURVIVED :)