Enjoying Bolivia 171So many people are crammed into this hole, like a
thousand clowns in an old automobile, while the Altiplano,
400 m (1,312 ft) above, retains its barren melancholy. The
lack of more than one straight path through town results in
vehicle–pedestrian anarchy.
La Paz: Best Bets
The following rankings are primarily based on interviews
with numerous native Paceños and visiting residents. I have
used two criteria: (a) Which places will one want to revisit?
(b) Which places appeal to both foreigners and Bolivians?
Luckily, La Paz does not have too many ‘Oh-I’ve-already-
been-there’ type of places.
The view from La Ceja (The Eyebrow) when literally
dropping into La Paz from El Alto, with Mount Illimani in
the background. Best time is late afternoon through sunset,
as La Paz puts on its evening dress of a sea of lights.
An alternative, lesser known site with an equally
spectacular view is found at the top of the other side
of ‘The Hole’, in Pampahasi, a high ridge where La Paz
glistens below to the west, and hidden green valleys lie
to the east. Micros and minibuses marked Pampahasi can
be caught moving south on Avenida Camacho.
The art scene. The Museo Nacional de Arte and smaller
galleries, a few of which include Fundación Solón and
Fundacion Simón Patiño. Marvel at the potent mix of two
great legacies, the European and the Andean indigenous.
La Paz’s remote location prevents her from receiving
exhibits of foreign art, but the local product admirably
fi lls the void.
The Tiahuanaco ruins (also spelled Tiwanaku). This is
pre-Inca architecture with a style of massive but precise
stonework similar to that of Macchu Picchu in Perú. The
civilisation that led to Tiahuanaco originated somewhere
around 600 BC and La Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun)
gives some indication about Tiahuanacan cosmology.
Some of the stone slabs fashioned into fi nely carved
façades of Tiahuanaco weigh as much as 175,000 kg
(385,808 lbs).