...LA PAZ

The city is buried deep in a bowl of moutnains at avove 12,000 feet & is known as the world's highest capital city. You'll find many places designated as the "world's highest this or that" in Bolivia because the western half of the country lies in some of the highest parts of the Andes Mountain chain. By the way - it's worth noting that even though La Paz is closer to the equator than Miami, it is also so high in the mountians that there is snow year round on some of the peaks above the city... especially on Mt. Illimani which looms Majestically over the city.

And now a view from the street in downtown La Paz. This is the "Prado" - the main street through the center of downtown. The street itself has many names & changes in various parts of the city, but everyone calls it the "Prado."

The San Francisco Cathedral

A market street just off Plaza Murillo.

You can walk from the center of La Paz in almost any direction and climb the mointainside for a spectacular view from above. In many directions you will find yourself walking up staircases that people use to reach their homes because the mountains are too steep for roads. You can almost see that in the distance in the picture below. The purple sign is that of the "Gran Hotel Torino" - my favorite hotel in the whole world... and YES, this street IS as steep as it looks like it might be.

The hotel is a converted mansion & is normally filled with travellers from all over the world - especially backpackers. The hotel now has a restaraunt (set up sometime between my two trips in 1989 and 1993) The ground floor is the restaraunt and a few shops on the main street. Hotel rooms are on the second floor, and a third floor that isn't visible in this picture...

Hotel rooms are very simple... four walls and a bed - and yet it's charming.