La Paz

I was in La Paz in 2001 and while I don't recall very much of the city, I very clearly remember my first impression. I was on an overnight bus from Peru and after hours of darkness or open plains, the bus suddenly turned to reveal a sea of buildings clinging to sloping mountains. My first thought was, "How many people will die if there's an earthquake here?" I wasn't trying to be morbid but I had no idea that the city would be so jam packed. I think I've probably also described Quito and Lima as also being unbelievably dense, which makes sense given they are populous capital cities in mountainous countries, but I still think La Paz takes the cake, even though it's population of less than two million makes it significantly smaller than Lima.

 

The altitude is undeniable here. The city is hillier than San Francisco so it's not a surprise that, given the altitude of over 3,600 meters, I found myself walking uncharacteristically slowly so as to not over exert myself.

 

My first stop was the Plaza Pedro Murillo, home to el Palacio Presidencial, el Palacio Legislativo, and the Catedral. I immediately assumed that the building I liked the best was the Palacio Presidencial, but it turned out to be the Palacio Legislativo. It felt much more imposing to me.

 

The Palacio Presidencial seemed less remarkable to me, although I did like the uniformed guards at the entrance. Something tells me their training isn't as rigorous as the guards at Buckingham Palace.

 

Next door was the Catedral, built in 1835. I'm a sucker for a colonial church so I popped in. The interior was far more plain than I had expected given its grand size and prominent location. This plainness coupled with its vast emptiness gave it a lonely, almost desperate, atmosphere. There was just a handful of people inside, including myself and two sweepers. It was dead silent except for the sounds of their brooms. I loved the high domed ceilings with their simple yet elegantly carved arches.

 

The plaza is also where La Paz's point zero is located, which means that all distances from La Paz are measured from this spot. In Paris, point zero is a plaque on the ground in front of Notre Dame and tradition dictates that you must stand on it to return to the city. I'm not really superstitious but I've certainly returned to Paris more than a few times, so I put my hand on La Paz's point zero and wished to return someday. I'll let you know what happens with that.

 

While wandering, I came across Iglesia de San Francisco. Inside was a massive, multi leveled golden retablo. Probably my favorite class in university was called something like Colonial Mexican Art History. We studied indigenous art that predated the Spanish arrival and learned about the colonial influence on indigenous religion and art. I'm not generally interested in religion but the professor was phenomenal and I found myself wanting to visit every obscure church in Latin America just to admire the variety of retablos. It's easy to find these overly ornate retablos gaudy or over the top, but I think they're beautiful. I didn't get a great photo because I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take photos, but this will give you a sense of it.

 

My last stop was the Coca Museum. Coca is a leaf chewed by Andeans to help suppress appetite and stimulate the body (sounds a bit contradictory, I realize, but it's true!). It's also the main ingredient in cocaine which makes it very controversial.

 

Despite its small size, the museum was a wealth of information--in fact it almost overwhelming at times! It chronicled how the indigenous people used coca as a religious symbol as well as for its medicinal purposes to reduce the affects of altitude; how the Spaniards exploited the local importance of coca upon their arrival by paying miners with coca instead of with money; the use of coca by non-Bolivian enterprises, specifically Coca-Cola; and the modern day struggle for Bolivia to control such an important crop while simultaneously trying to decrease cocaine production.

 

All this learning and walking around was exhausting, so I returned to Plaza Murillo for some people watching before calling it a day.