164 CultureShock! Boliviaand includes boutique size speciality museums. The
mixture of commerce, tourism and residents adds fl avour
to the neighbourhood. The Museo Costumbrista Juan de
Vargas, the Museo Litoral (in remembrance of Bolivia’s
lost coastline), la Casa de Don Pedro Domingo Murillo
(liberator of the city) and the Museo de Metales Preciosos
Pre-Colombinos are all within short walking distance and
worth a visit.
Don’t miss the carved-stone colonial-style Museo Nacional
de Arte, on the north-west corner of Plaza Murillo. This three-
story 1775 building with pillared balconies, surrounding a
courtyard of stone mosaic with a central fountain, is an ideal
setting for soothing meditation. On the various fl oors, all
periods of Bolivian art are represented.
In the same neighbourhood, within one of the great old
colonial buildings, is the Peña Marka Tambo (Calle Jaen),
with an exuberant cast of Bolivian folk music and dance
groups. Not far from there is the Peña La Casa del Corregidor
(Calle Murillo).
A Plaza Murillo focal point is Hotel Paris, a restored
anachronism of the old aristocracy. Everything within its
expensive suites will take you
back a century; wood carved
furniture, lacy bedspreads and
curtains, original rugs, traditional
bathroom tiles—only the fax
machine breaks the illusion.International Village
The affluence of the south-west quadrant of La Paz is
deceiving as owners of stylish mansions may have their total
fi nancial wealth invested in the one piece of property.
The personality of this neighbourhood comes from the
large contingent of expatriate residents and the institutions
that serve them, including embassies, foreign restaurants,
the Alliance Française and Goethe Institute, and a host of
avant garde cafés and night clubs.
The downtown of Sopocachi is Plaza Abaroa. Abaroa was
the hero who died in a fruitless defense of Bolivia’s seacoast.Also at Plaza Murillo is the
Congress building, where a
heated debate may be more
thrilling than the blurry double
feature at the cinema next to
Hotel Paris.