158 CultureShock! Bolivia
Most travellers arriving in La Paz, by plane, bus or
automobile, will be entering by way of El Alto, perhaps the
only city in the world where the airport is the neatest place
in town.
The city of La Paz is found beyond the ledge, deep down in
the gashing hole. At the far end and bottom of the gash (which
has been carved out of chalky badlands by the Choqueyapu)
is the more affl uent Zona Sur (South Zone), which tries hard
to emulate a North American suburb, as exemplifi ed by a
Mexican restaurant that advertises it’s ‘MEXICAN BAR’ ...
in English!
But La Paz’s south zone still looks like Bolivia, as the
more onerous aspects of North American suburbia, single-
use zoning, windowless department stores, motorway
degradation and the absence of public transportation have
not yet been adopted.
The view of La Paz, as you pass over the lip of El Alto into
‘The Hole’ will ‘knock your socks off,’ according to Peter
Hutcheson, former editor of Bolivian Times. The redbrick
slums at the edge of the lip give way to more developed
neighbourhoods and then the downtown skyscrapers in
varying pastels, with the blazing white peak of Mount
Illimani monopolising the background. With few exceptions,
the higher the neighbourhood, the poorer the people andEl Prado, downtown La Paz.