High and Dry in LaPaz

LaPaz is a big teaming city located at over 12,000 feet. Gay is sleeping off minor altitude sickness, as we are spending three full days acclimating before moving on to more hiking.

The entire central part of the city is filled with crowded markets. We ambled through several today awed by the indigenous people and all of the wares they are selling. The stuff ranges from the sublime (beautiful fruits and woven goods) to the bizarre (potions and shrunken llama heads). Gays small bag was slit, but contained nothing of value. It is a real hassle to keep your guard up all the time. I keep most of my money right near the family jewels in a money belt. My assumption is something of value will be either lost or stolen. We travel pretty light and have nothing other than our diaries and pictures which have much value. This is on la quenta of traveling light in Latin America.

There is a lot of poverty in Bolivia. The higher you go up in the city the poorer the neighborhoods. Driving in after midnight was pretty scary. The area outside town looks like a soviet nightmare and entering the burg with a bad attitude made it look like a scene from a horror movie. Alas, a good nights sleep and sunshine brightened our attitudes. The city is full of indeginous people who make up 90% of the population. The mountains surround it and the sky is very blue.

We are staying at the Hotel Rosario which is one of the many way stops on the gringo trail There are many fellow travelers including a group of volunteers from the airlines who are delivering supplies to small villages. I am working in a small internet bar and cafe which is part of the hotel. It is a good oasis in this exciting; albeit confusing and sometimes frightening city.

Communication now is so different from 25 years ago when we traveled around South East Asia for several months. We had no mail or contact with anyone other than Terry Leeds who wrote us in Katmandu with Duck Football scores, and news of the Yankees. I guess some things change and others stay the same. We still here from Terry when we are on the road, but the Duck scores seem like good news. Now we have the internet and inexpensive telephone services which make traveling and sharing so much more interesting. Adios!