I had a totally unexpected challenge in Lima before I left, because I had bought my flight as YEG-LPB, with the more than 22 hour layover in Lima. Because of this, the ticket price did not include the exit taxi from Peru ($31 USD), based on the assumption I would spend from 00:15 to 22:27 in the airport and not leave! The airline (Avianca) did not realize this at check-in, so I got turned away at security, and they directed me back to Avianca. The Avianca woman was confused when I returned, but eventually a more experienced employee explained the problem and directed me to where I needed to go to pay the tax. I have now paid over $550 in visas, exit taxes, and reciprocity fees for this little trip to South America!
But, despite the bureaucratic roadblocks to visiting Peru (and Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil--all to come), who knew--being Canadian and coming through Bolivian border control is the best! Visitors from outside of Bolivia and Mercosur have their own line, and it seemed everyone else in this line needed a visa, so while they were all diverted to another counter, I was rushed to the front and through in no time.
My hotel was uncommunicative both when I tried to contact them through booking.com and directly by email, so I was on my own to figure out transportation. This was slightly daunting at that time of night, but it worked out okay. I took an official looking taxi, and he had no issues finding my hotel. I had read that the official rate is 70 Bs (bolivianos), but that there can be an "after dark" surcharge to bring it to 90 Bs. I tried handing him 70, but he explained by pointing at his watch that the rate was 90, so that was that.
Even in the dark it was quite something to descend from El Alto into La Paz. I do not quite understand how an urban area of over 2 million ended up at such an altitude (~3500-4500 metres), but it sure makes for a unique cityscape.
My hotel is the York B&B, on La Paz's main tourist drag.
I did a few things in the neighborhood (ate breakfast, dropped off some laundry, got cash, mailed a postcard), then headed up towards a place called Mirador Killi Killi, a little park that provides a great lookout over the city and mountains around it.
Even the walk up to Mirador Killi Killi was fascinating. Again, I was amazed that literally every street I walked on went either up or down hill (and often both).
From Mirador Killi Killi I walked down to check out what was in fact the part of La Paz I was most excited to see--their cable car (teleferico) transit system!
I rode the orange line, and ended up doing three rides, each of which cost 3 Bs., or something like 60 cents. Each car seats about 8 people I would guess, and they are literally arriving at each station every few seconds. On Saturday around noon no cars I saw were entirely full, and occasionally some were entirely empty, so I never waited, just walked up and jumped in.
I was shocked at how high the cars traveled above the city at some points, and at other points we were not all that far above the roofs of apartment buildings.
Based on the number of other passengers taking pictures, I was clearly not the only person intrigued by the system. The orange line is only a couple of months old or so, so it's very new, but La Paz has been using the red line (and subsequently other lines--I think there will be a total of 6 soon) for a few years--since 2014, I think.
Besides the experience of riding the teleferico and seeing the city below, I was interested in one particular spot we passed over, which was this cemetery:
Besides the experience of riding the teleferico and seeing the city below, I was interested in one particular spot we passed over, which was this cemetery:
Once I was finished with my transit riding (I just returned to where I had begun riding it), I carried on back to the street my hostel was on.
I ate lunch at the restaurant next door to the hostel, a dish called Papas a la Huancaina that is apparently "typico" in Bolivia. It has potatoes, eggs, white cheese, and peanut sauce.
After my late lunch, somewhat on a whim, I joined a tour up to El Alto, La Paz's poorer, mostly Indigenous, sister city several hundred metres above. The tour was not to see El Alto, but rather to see what are known as the wrestling Cholitas, an event held in a big building beside a soccer field.
The whole Cholitas wrestling thing is hard to describe, mostly because its very existence is shocking. "Cholita," as I understand it, was (is?) a derogatory term for a mixed Indigenous-European woman, which has, apparently, been re-appropriated to emphasize their toughness and resiliency. Needless to say, as a one-day tourist, it is pretty tough to catch any nuances, especially when I don't know any of Bolivia's languages.
Regardless, what I was able to observe is a fairly make-shift set up in this mostly bare hall, that includes a wrestling ring and promotional signage.
The "VIP" seating (chairs closest to the ring) are for the tourists, which, of course included me. But, I asked the tour group leader if I could sit in the stands, and he said I was welcome to.
In these seats everyone but me was Bolivian. It ended up being an odd dynamic, because the tourists were closest to the action, and the most intense fans furthest away.
While the Cholitas were the main draw as far as the tourists were concerned, the night began with men "wrestling;" of course it should be noted that the fighting is WWE-style, so, a sham.
The Cholitas came out next, and there were three or four Cholita fights. Honestly, all of this fake wresting began getting very boring, especially since it was difficult for me to follow any story lines that perhaps Spanish-speakers found entertaining.
The whole thing was tremendously obnoxious, with the wrestlers regularly leaving the ring and taking the fight into the crowd.
I had an especially good spot to watch this sequence:
Tomorrow I will head to the bus station and leave La Paz for Chile.
No comments:
Post a Comment