Margaret’s Travel Log 4: La Paz

If you’re looking for local colour, Bolivia is a good place to begin. You fly in to the highest commercial airport in the world – more than 4.1 kilometres above sea level – climbing up from the coast across steeply undulating ridges, with the ever-present peaks of the high Andes in the background.

The visitor’s first view of La Paz shows the way the city spreads up the sides of the valley it fills. The snow-clad Mount Illimani (6,402 metres) can be seen beyond the valley.

La Paz itself lies below the airport, occupying an entire, steep-sided valley, with the central business district, where our hotel was located, near the lower edge. Most streets are cobbled and many are very narrow. On the day we arrived there was a general strike in the city for a demonstration in favour of re-instating La Paz as Bolivia’s capital. Almost all the population participated, so the main streets were full of marchers, while the rest of the city was bare. We were told later that the government had consented to the people’s requests.

A view of the city slopes, taken from within the central business district. Note the harsh lighting, which presented a challenge for the compact digicam.

It was only on the following day that we could appreciate the dynamic nature of this city. We had been given a ‘rest’ day in La Paz to acclimatise to the high altitude, which affected everyone in our group. Symptoms ranged from light-headedness through headaches to severe nausea and the slightest exertion could cause breathlessness and dizziness.

So our day of rest was spent mainly on short walks around the vicinity of the hotel, strolling through colourful street markets and ranging as far as the city square, where we visited the impressive Cathedral of San Francisco. Some amazing bargains were on offer in the markets. Several group members purchased sleeping bags for the equivalent of $A10 and beautiful alpaca jumpers that would cost hundreds of dollars at home were on sale for around $A80.

With the digicam it was possible to shoot candid pictures of shopkeepers and other people in the streets.
Most of my La Paz photographs were taken with my Ixus 750 because an SLR camera was just too conspicuous. The little camera was allowed me to ‘shoot from the hip’ and could be tucked into a pocket when necessary.

Displays of goods made the otherwise drab streets a riot of colour.
However, writing this report several days later, I now regret not using my EOS 400D because the little camera had serious problems with the lighting and its AF system often failed to lock on to subjects. The sensor also had difficulty handling the extreme brightness range in many situations, leaving me with only a handful of ‘keepers’ from the hundreds of pictures I took. Some of these shots are shown below.

The market stalls were loaded with a wide range of goods, particularly traditional woven fabrics, which attracted both tourists and local buyers, who use woven cloths for carrying everything from babies to goods.

Market stalls were usually devoted to a single item, in this case knitting wool. This shopkeeper is wearing modern dress, unlike many of the women, who wear the bowler hat, shawl and full skirt, and are known as ‘Cholitas’.

A display of typical textiles of the region.

A shoe vendor discussing business with her boss, behind a counter laden with sandals.

A mother carrying her baby in the traditional way, using a metre-square piece of woven cloth.

The interior of the Church of San Francisco. The wealth of the decorations in this church provides a stark contrast to the visible poverty in the streets outside. This shot was the only one of five that I took in the interior that was acceptably sharp, proof of the limitations of the digicam.

A family group outside the church, dressed for a special occasion. The women are dressed in typical ‘Cholita’ costume, which consists of a bowler hat, shawl and full skirt with several petticoats. Flat shoes are normally worn. The men dress in standard Western garb.

A couple posing for a photograph on the steps of the Church of San Francisco.

People often sit on the footpaths to sell goods or conduct business.

The front of a government building, guarded by soldiers in traditional costume.

Children are an attractive subject for photographers. This little tot was snapped feeding the birds in the main city square.
Having spent two days in La Paz, living life at a slow and laborious pace to cope with the altitude, we have an early start scheduled tor the bus trip to Chua, where we will board a catamaran for a day cruise to Isla del Sol (the island of the sun) on Lake Titicaca.