Rick, Josh, Jan, Mary & Bernie at La Paz hotel
Monday, May 26, 1997 My flight from Miami arrived at the La Paz airport at 8:15 AM. I was supposed to have arrived a day earlier. For an explanation of why I was a day late click here.
Walking from the plane to the terminal, I saw Mary and Rick waving through a large window of the terminal building. They had a sign telling me that they had my backpack, a surprise to me. Mary told me that on their flight there was one empty seat on the LAB flight to La Paz, my seat. I should have been able to have made the flight.
We took a van from the airport to the La Paz hotel. The setting of La Paz, with Illimanu and the Andes in the background is a captivating sight. Clinging to the steep slopes surrounding the downtown area below, are the basic houses of the million city inhabitants.
Josh & our bus to Copacabana
At the, Hostal Imperial, I showered, then we went out for lunch. Walking the steep streets I began to notice the altitude change. I had a chicken sandwich in a restaurant in the market area near the cathedral. All the shoe shine boys had ski masks on. We were unsure if it was because of air pollution, or some other purpose. For drinking water, we brought iodine tablets to add to tap water. Another alternative was bottled water.
We decided to head to Copacabana that afternoon and walked to the nearby main bus station. However, there were no Copacabana buses leaving until the next morning. A couple of people told us to go to the bus departure area adjacent to the cemetery. A crowded minibus took us to the cemetery, where we immediately found our bus. A few short miles up the steep road out of La Paz, the bus runs out of gas. The bus driver leaves us stranded on the road, as he hitches a ride to buy some gas. After 4-5 minutes we are back on the road.
Photo: Flower market near cemetery
Buses at cemetery
Photo: Wedding at Bronze Horseman
Flower market
Photo: View of La Paz with 21,000 ft Illimani in distance
View of La Paz
Map of Peru/Bolivia trip
