La Paz

Tuesday 22nd March

After a small flight delay leaving Santa Cruz I touched down in La Paz airport at 23:45 and met Neil in the terminal building ... good to see a friend from back home and looking forward to travelling with him for the next 5 weeks.

After getting a taxi downtown Neil checked into his hotel and I checked into the Wild Rover Irish hostel and we both headed back out and went to the Hard Rock Cafe for some food and a few beers.

Wednesday 23rd March

Met Neil in the morning and we both spent the day sightseeing around La Paz ... walked for hours. First we went to one of the many miradors around La Paz to get a view over the city.

Later in the afternoon we walked around the streets and plazas of La Paz. We also walked down to the famous La Paz ´Witch Market´.

Later that evening we walked back down to another Irish Bar to have dinner.


Thursday 24th March

Neil checked out of his hotel this morning and checked into the Wild Rover Hostel. I had an early start today as I was mountain biking down the famous ´Death Road´ outside La Paz. Great day out. We started off at a very high altitude so we were cycling in the clouds and we started our 68km descent on death road. Some fantastic scenery on the cycle down.

After the cycle ... we all had a buffet dinner folllowed by a few hours relaxation in a local hostel.

Friday 25th March

Myself and Neil decided to do a 1 day excursion to Chacaltaya and the Moon Valley south of La Paz. Chacaltaya was great ... we took a minibus up to a height of about 5,000m above sea level and then ascended another 400m on foot. Very hard to breath when climbing at this height .. the altitude is a killer! The day was pretty cloudy so was difficult to take pictures from the summit of the mountain.

After we descended and drove back to La Paz we spent an hour walking around the Moon Valley  ... weird rock formations just south of La Paz.

Later that evening we had a great night out in the bar in the Wild Rover hostel.

Saturday 26th March

This day was a write off! Went out for breakfast with Neil and hung out in the hostel courtyard sunbathing. Spent the afternoon in the bar for the Ireland and Macedonia match and we met up with some other Irish lads. Spent the evening playing pool and having beers in the bar.

Sunday 27th March

We hung out in the hostel for the morning and in the afternoon myself and Neil and a big crowd of backpackers from the hostel got a minibus to a place outside of La Paz to watch ´Cholita wrestling´. The show went on for about 3 hours, and when we got back to the hostel in La Paz, it was straight into the Wild Rover bar for another great night out on the town.

Monday 28th March

Checked out of the Wild Rover hostel and made our way to the airport to catch our flight to Rurrenabaque. 12:00. Will miss La Paz ... had a great few nights out here .. and loads to do.