After a very long
trip from Anchorage to La Paz ( about 30 hours), I finally set foot
in the city in the mountains. Sadly, I was so exhausted that when the
cab dropped me off at my cousin's place, I fell asleep almost
immediately. The first day was thus well spent in recovering. I also
met my relatives with whom I will be spending my few days in La Paz.
Three of my cousins work in their outdoor activity company, I'm
really looking forward to go climbing with them!
The next day I
walked in the city for a coupe of hours, so I slowly get used the
thin air. The views are astounding. La Paz is built in the mountains,
so there is about 500 meters (1600 feet) between the highest and the
lowest part. From where I was that day, I could see about 50% of the
city (I think, it's pretty hard to guess!) and the mountains behind
it. Walking downhill was quite easy, butthe walk back up
cost me a bit more. I didn't really notice how thin the air was until
then, as I spent most of the day before sleeping :P
For New year's Eve,
we had dinner with family I met for the occasion. I got used to
introduce myself as “the cousin from Paris”, as it is a lot
easier than explaining whose nephew or whatever I am (big family
problems!).Dinner was amazing.
There was some pork meat marinated with garlic and spices that was
really delicious! After wishing everyone the best for the upcoming
year, I went to a small party with my cousins. They made me try local
drinks, such as Singani and Fernet. We stayed up until 6:30 – 7AM,
so I slept until 14:30 the next day! I woke up just in time for
lunch: Steak and rice! Quite good, especially for breakfast!
In the afternoon, I
went walking again. This time I took the cable car to reach the top
of the city. The view was literally breathtaking, even though the
thin air probably helped! The city is really gigantic, and the
surrounding mountains really make it look amazing. I then started to
walk down, stopping every 50m to admire the view and take a couple of
pictures. As I kept walking, it got dark and the city started to
light up. Well, La Paz is as beautiful at night as it is by day. I
didn't really see exactly how far the city stretched until then. I
got dark really quickly, so I took the cable car down for the last
part.
The next morning, my
cousins Vicente and Diego took me paragliding in the morning. After a
40 min drive through magnificent landscape, we drove up a mountain
and got ready for take off. The flight was about 10 to 15 minutes but
it was incredible. First, the sensation of floating in the air is
really nice. And in addition to that, you have the incredible views
on the valley that was next to it. It was truly magical.
After lunch, I took
a quick nap and went for another walk in the city which as always,
was beautiful.
Yesterday I went for
a walk in the southern part of the city, which is almost flat and
thus much more similar to other cities I've been so far. Big streets
and some palm trees next to buildings reminded me of the couple of
hours I spent in LA.
In the evening, to
celebrate my cousin's birthday, he wanted to have karaoke. The songs
list was about 50 pages, I knew no more than 5 or 6 :p Was fun,
especially because I'm not use to this kind of thing on birthday
parties!
So this is it for
the first couple of days in South America! I'll try to update every
week, if I have an internet connection, otherwise it'll be whenever I
can ! Lots of love, Daniel
Pictures :)
Here's the link to the pictures, but I haven't sorted them out at all !
