La Paz is for Lovers

La Paz is the capital of Bolivia. It is also the highest capital city in the world...when I first heard this, I assumed they were talking about elevation, although I´ve since been informed that there are some other factors that go into that illustrious title...

To paint a picture in your mind, envision San Fransisco: not incredibly large as far as cities go, and rollercoaster like terrain. Then remove the classic ¨Full House¨style homes and apartment buildings and replace them with ramshackle shacks. Take away the Golden Gate bridge, the bay, and the dense layer of fog, and instead paint in the Andes mountain range and it´s massive snow capped peaks blanketed in big white fluffy clouds.

Hopefully that gives you some idea of what we were working with here. On a high note, everything is dirt cheap. Food (amazing dinners, five star stuff for $25 w/ wine) , accomodations ($14 a night), taxis (never more than $1.50), shopping (don´t even get me started!). So in two days we covered most of the city on foot, ate three square meals a day, and do all of our Christmas shopping.

As for the ¨La Paz is for Lovers¨title, that was a shout out to all of the teenage romance that flourishes in public eye for all to see. As I mentioned, we covered nearly the entire city, and never found a bench to sit on because they were all being used for some sort of make out session. Parks run rampant with hormonal encounters, any patch of grass is fair game. Don´t get the wrong idea, I think these kids are alright. The problem is, the severe lack of affection amongst the older crowd. It´s like these Bolivians get it all out of their system by the age of 17. It´s a mystery.