We got into La Paz early in the morning... again. After getting a taxi to the hostel and getting our room sorted out, we took a little walk around town. The main goal being to find some ATMs... well we found some but then encountered a little problem. My UK card wouldn't be accepted... anywhere. Later on that day or the next I tried my US card (thankfully I had thought to bring it but only after I was in Argentina so Mom kindly sent it to me). However It wouldn't work as I was using the wrong pin...
The next morning after a few frantic calls to the UK bank and emails home, I managed to sort out that 1) my bank is useless ("the card should work, do you want us to send you a new one... 7 - 10 working days AND you have to pay the DHL express cost...) and 2) I should read my emails more carefully since I was using the wrong pin... After a couple of days living on the tab at the hostel (you can charge your drinks and food to your room... dangerous) I finally managed to get some money.
While walking around we saw some of the sights - Catederal, Palacio de Gobierno, Palacio Legislativo, and the Plazas Murillo, Isabel La Catolica, Bolivia, Avaroa. The city as a whole is really cool but a bit crazy. It has the general feel as most of the big cities here, it is fairly old feeling with lots of broken pavements, and abandoned or wrecked buildings. The area we are in is typical of large hostels (ours is a large party hostel, fun but dangerous!), it’s a cheaper part of town but near many of the historic buildings and attractions. Its also Irish run, which means there are loads of Irish travellers. We even went out drinking with a Irish International Rugby legend - Malcom O'Kelly and a few guys from the Leinster team. La Paz is built in a valley with street sometimes appearing to run straight up the sides of the valley! The richer section is lower and the higher sections are poorer. They said that the average annual income for a Bolivian is $1,200 while their congressmen get about $4,000 a month... no wonder they have lots of protests and civil unrest towards the government.
city as we drove around. We also went up to one of the lookout points and could really appreciate the city as a whole. Bolivia as a whole is cheap. You get about 10 bolivianos to a pound (7 or so to a dollar) and a good meal can cost about 50 Bs. La
Paz is also known for a few things. On are the illegal tours of San Pedro prison (which were made famous by the book, Marching Powder), where you can pay to get into a prison and look around for a few hours. There are whole families inside and inmates run stores and restaurants to pay for their rooms and food (the inmates have to pay for everything). I've read the book but am not too keen to go. Something else that is apparently around (and not my thing), is easily accessible cocaine. I have met people that come expressly to look for it. There is an underground club that you get people to call ahead to so they can open the security gate for you where you can buy from too. Some people are into that, whatever.
Another big area in town is the Witches Market and the Black Markets. If you want it, you can find it! Everything from clothes to household goods to well, everything is available. It is an area that originally was where people from the country would come in to sell their wares. The Witch’s market is a bit 
more interesting. It is full of stalls with random stuff but is heavily slanted towards the items, paraphernalia and other thing used in the native traditions. One of the most unusual of these is the abundance of llama fetuses. They are used in most ceremonies and are seen as very powerful. We were actually in town and the market on June 21, which is the Ayamaran (one of the largest native populations) New Year. There were several ceremonies taking place with offerings burnt and prayers said for prosperity and good luck.
We did sign up for one of the major activities in the area - El Camino de la Muerte (Death Road). The Deat
h Road is a 69 k (43 mile) road just out of La Paz. It was built by prisoners and from the Chaco war with Paraguay in the 1930s. It has drop-offs of at least 600 meters (2,000 feet), is mostly single lane (3.2 meters or 10 ft wide), lacks guardrails and is plagued by fog, rain and dust storms... It has been estimated that 200 to 300 people died a year on the road before an alternative was completed in 2006. Since becoming a tourist attraction in 1998, at least 18 tourists have been killed, including a girl in April of this year.
We road down tarmac (first 25%) and dirt roads from an elevation of 4,700 to 1,200 meters in 
about 4 hours. Our guide said we got up to speeds of about 55kph and in the 35kph range on the tarmac and dirt portions, respectively. We had awesome views and an adrenaline filled ride! It was awesome and I never felt really in danger, just a little wary sometimes, so you just slow down. No problem...
After a week in La Paz, lots of parties and some cool people, I finally decided to move on. I caught the bus over to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca with an Irish couple that I met in La Paz.
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