Bolivia, La Paz and its markets

Here we are in La Paz, the governmental capital of Bolivia. We arrived here from Copacabana 5 days ago. Copacabana is very famous for its Virgin and also gave its name to a very famous beach in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, because the city of Rio owns the replica of the statue of the virgin of Copacabana. The city was very busy and loud during the time we stayed there so we did not get to enjoy it too much. Because of the festivities devoted to the virgin the prices were very high and people were taking advantage of the gringos ( white tourists) by getting from them as much money they could.

The festivities in Copacabana and the very famous car blessing.

Though, during our two day stay in town we got to go to see the Island of the moon which is the feminine counterpart of the Isla del Sol. The Isla de la luna is less touristy, much smaller but also very pretty. We had a great day wandering around the island by ourselves, away from all those crazy people from Copacabana. We left Copacabana by bus on the Saturday morning and had to travel for only 3h30 to get to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.

 This is how we got from Copacabana to La Paz. Check out those tiny ferries :-)

Everything went very smoothly and we got to La Paz in the early afternoon. The city is big and very busy. Not just cars and people, no. Street markets cover the entire city and it becomes hard to justify ever entering a store. All things can be bought on the sidewalk. It is unbelievable what people can sell.

Witches market on the streets of La Paz selling dried lama foetuses bringing good luck to those who burry them underneath their new house.

We visited La Paz and shopped for very cheap leather jackets. In La Paz the jewlery and leather is very cheap and we got custumized jackets for 50 dollars each! :-)

Us trying some jackets  :-) 

Scott changed his mind but I am getting both of these

 
La Paz is also a city where we took a little bit of time off, to rest as we got tired of changing hostels and cities constantly .Yesterday Scott got to play some golf at the highest located golf course in the World and I got to SHOP (a lot) and see the Valley of the Moon. ‘The Moon Valley’ is a rocky landscape – and very unique, filled with rock formations which have been formed through thousands of years of erosion.

 The grandpa in  the valley of the moon

The Valley of the Moon and its rock formations

We both had a great time. Tomorrow we are leaving La Paz and heading towards Cochabamba, Torotoro national park, the Salt Flats and much more!