After breakfast a small group of us were picked up and taken on a tour of La Paz. Firstly we drove to Mallasa, or ‘Moon Valley’ as it is known to tourists, which is just on the outskirts of the city and is an area of natural clay formations which are constantly changing due to erosion. The area was once part of the floor of the sea that connected the Uyuni Salt Flats to Lake Titicaca. It was a very cool landscape especially given it was so close to the city. We then drove through ‘The South’, the most expensive of La Paz’s 3 areas and classes of housing. The South which sits at 3200m altitude and is expensive owing to its warmer climate, Centro which sits at 3600m is around the city centre and is considered a middle class area, and The North which sits at 4000m and is the area built on the surrounding mountains and is the poorest section of La Paz. The South is very Americanised. Driving through the shopping district one could be anywhere in the western world. The houses are mansions and the schools exclusive. It was astounding to see the vast contrast between the 3 regions within the city. On the tour we also saw the main square in the colonial area of La Paz which is located in the Centro region. It has the government house, the main official Catholic church and some other government buildings on its edges. As well, we saw the famous San Pedro Prison (from the book ‘Marching Powder’), and we went to an awesome view point which gave us a 360º view of La Paz. Our last stop was the “witches market” which is not actually for witches but has an eclectic range of things to buy from traditional products used for offerings to the traditional gods to souvenirs and alpaca and llama woollen products.
Tonight we enjoyed a fabulous Japanese meal at a Thai/Japanese/Indian restaurant for our tour guides birthday.
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