Whichever way you arrive in La Paz, the first view of it is impressive. Sitting in a huge natural bowl at 3600m and surrounded by giant snow-capped mountains, I can't think of another capital city that occupies such a dramatic position. The name is Spanish for peace, but it can be hard to understand how it got this name at times.

There were miners from Potosí camped near the main plaza who had come to protest about a large Canadian company's involvement in the silver mines. Late one night we heard a lot of commotion, breaking glass and possible gun shots. After that we saw no more protesters.

On another evening we took a bus to the outskirts to watch a fairly unique sporting event - cholita wrestling. This is like any other wrestling match, with two exceptions. Firstly, half of the competitors are women wearing traditional clothing, and as if that isn't enough, the rules are lax enough to allow for anything to happen. Bags of popcorn and bottles of pop are opened and thrown at one another, at which point you realise why the locals are not sitting in the ring-side seats like we are! What a bizarre way to spend a Sunday evening.

If there is some peace to be found it is on El Camino de la Muerte (the Death Road), and there is only one way to experience it - downhill on a mountain bike! From a cold 4700m pass just outside La Paz to the humid jungle at 1100m near Coroico, the dirt track is carved into the mountainside with steep drops into the gorge below. It is no more than 3m wide for most of its length, and is lined with many crosses marking past accidents. Before the opening of a new road on the opposite side of the valley in 2007, an average of 26 vehicles a year used to go over the edge, but these days thrill seeking cyclists form the main bulk of the traffic. It was an amazing experience.

I wasn't expecting much from the food in Bolivia, but the restaurants in La Paz have been pretty good, and particularly memorable were the llama steaks. We were hoping to head into the Cordillera Real for some trekking in the High Andes, but we have both been suffering from colds, so have reluctantly decided to move on and save the dwindling time for something else.

Posted from Sucre, 19th July 2012.