Ok so first blog for a long time so I might be a bit rusty.

Arrived in La Paz mid afternoon on Monday and the airport itself is something unimaginable. This is the capital of Bolivia but as I got off the plane and crossed the tarmac I was aware that this place was small. Half the people on my flight didn´t even get off there and were going on to Santa Cruz, so was more like a train station than an airport. Finding my bag, lying on the floor, since there are no belts that your bags go round on, and headed to get my taxi. Not what I was expecting.

The view from El Alto airport is literally breath taking, you can see into the city from above and is just much more spread out and packed than I ever could have imagined.

Tuesday and I went off to Tiwanaku which is a pre-inca site on the outskirts of the city. The two museums that we went to were in my opinion a waste of time, however they were included in the trip so I can´t complain. The acutal site was good and worth a visit if you have the time here.

Wednesday and off on another adventure by myself. This time to the art district, which was a waste of energy going up the steep hills to discover that I had taken the wrong road and needed to back down it. Really should have learnt to read a map properly. The building aren´t as impressive as I thought they might be in this region of town, but I can say that I´ve been.

Mez arrived late in the afternoon after flying for a very long time to get there. Only stepping out to get food then she slept for what felt like an eternity, since I was up on the Thursday twiddling my thumbs waiting for her. The coca museum for 10 bolivianos is worth the visit although there is a fair bit of reading but very informative if you can be bothered. After we headed to the café above the museum to try our first taste of coca leaves. Coca leaves have medicinal purposes and is supposed to help combat the effects of altitude sickness.

Another museum in the afternoon, where we learnt about bolivian music, and had fun with the instruments that we were allowed to play. Friday and the final memeber of the travelling trio arrived, Emma. We visited San Francisco museum and the church (picture) and went to the witches market where they spices and dead llamas, which if put under a newly built house will bring luck to the owner. Lunch and then relax.

Food has been a bit of an issue here. Having been studying Spanish for a year and a half, I´m hardly an expert but I know a fair bit. This doesn´t seem to have helped me much here. Accidently ordered Mez a cake instead of a pastie on the first night, and on the second day not understanding what the women was saying to me about getting a ticket to get my meal have just been a few of the blunders. My meal has generally been ok, just more difficult when ordering for others. The cheap food here is a menú normally for 10 bolivianos which is about a pound, and it has been what we´ve been getting.

After Emma arrived we thought maybe things would be easier, since her Spanish is better than mine. This apparently is not the case. Emma and I ordered meatballs in this "restaurant" which really was no more than a house. Whilst the other thing to chose from was "panza" which might have been fish which Mez was appealed by. However this was not fish, and it turned out to be cow´s stomach. Well we´ll know for next time. We all tried it, and Mez later admitted that if she hadn´t just continued to eat and thought about it, there was no way she could have continued.

Saturday, and our last day in La Paz. We headed to plaza murillo which is the home of a cathedral and the bullet ridden precidencial palace (although we never saw any holes). This turned out to be slightly more difficult to reach than we thought since there were some riots and strikes going on in the area, but who can deny three girls entry to a church. The girls have gone off to more museums, but after the dodgy food, altitude and the sudden change in temperature from Spain I´m feeling a bit poorly. We´ll meet up later and head for lunch (fingers crossed we understand) and then to a lookout point which we should be able to see across the whole city.

Off to Copacabana tomorrow so I´ll update from there