Bolivia: A Destination Of Eerie Beauty And Fascinating Culture

Bolivia is not your run of the mill travel destination. To visit this country is to visit the true heart of South America. Where else can you see indigenous ladies wearing their traditional colorful layered dressed and bowler hats, a tropical paradise and snow-capped Andean mountains all in the course of one day?

La Paz will take your breath away in more ways than one. The world’s highest capital, it lies at 4000m above sea level. It’s surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks during most parts of the year. Taking a taxi to the city center, you will feel like you are driving into the gaping mouth of an extinct volcano.

Probably the best known tourist attraction of La Paz is the witches market. If you are looking for a Llama fetus to bury underneath your new house to bring good luck, you will find it here. You could certainly also find something to bring a bit of bad luck to your horrible boss back home. The huge open air market of 16 de Julio offers virtually anything you can think of; if you are looking for a wireless reading device you will find it here, and if you want to buy a 5 piece drum set you will most probably find that as well.

No trip to La Paz will be complete without visiting the well-known coca museum. Here you can see displays depicting the history of coca production in Bolivia. Most people think that the coca plant is only used to produce cocaine, but this is not true. It has been used by the locals for medicinal purposes, to produce tea and against altitude sickness for centuries.

You are most likely not aware that a certain soft drink used all over the world, not only contains the word coca in its name, but that it actually contained cocaine for many years. How much coca it really contained is sort of a trade secret, but it is known that this practice lasted deep into the 20th century.

The festival of Gran Poder is the biggest and best known festival in La Paz. It is held yearly during winter and draws more than 30 000 participants. It’s a truly world class extravaganza of costumes, music and dance lasting from about 9 in the morning to deep into the night - by which time most dancers must be half dead with exhaustion.

If you are lucky enough to have some good quality Alpine skiing equipment, why not take a day trip to nearby Chacaltaya, at 5400m the highest ski resort in the world. The top of the lift at Chacaltaya is at the same height as Everest base camp, so make sure that you are properly acclimatised to the high altitude before attempting to ski. For most people merely reading a book at this altitude leave them breathless.