Getting to La Paz

I am writing this first post from my host family's guest bedroom. I just woke up from a three hour nap (my head and tummy were feeling pretty gross by the time I got here), so I haven't yet actually seen La Paz.

I left SFO yesterday afternoon. The flight to Miami was very smooth. I napped on and off between reading Confessions of a Yakuza by Junichi Saga. I finished the book on the next leg of the flight to La Paz. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Japanese culture and/or professional gamblers (that's what a yakuza is... I didn't know that when I bought the book). Since I don't really have a good background in that subject, I found it a good contrast to Murikami's novels... kind of teasing out the differences between what is fantasy and what is a cultural difference in his novels. In any case, it was a fast read.

An hour delay on the runway in Miami was followed by an hour delay in the airport for the next flight. Perfect delays! I tried to sleep as much as I could on the way down, but Juan kept wanting to talk. He has just married a Bolivian woman in January, but he lives in Miami and she lives in La Paz. Oh, and if anyone would like to move to Miami, I now have a connection in the real estate business. And the painting business. And possibly the import/export business (if things work out for his international romance).

I arrived at La Paz airport at 7 am. The weather was clear and crisp, but I was glad to have to stand in line for customs and visas for a while because my stomach was a little woozy. Once I made it out (and past the one security guard that asked me if I had la gripe... why, yes, yes I do), I was immediately greeted by Alan. There was about 9 of us that had flown in on the flight from Miami to La Paz. Once we were all there, our luggage was put on one van and we got into another with Alan and a driver.

To get to La Paz, you have to drive through El Alto first. Mostly two-storied buildings, it is on the plateau that overlooks La Paz. I couldn't get any good photos, but there was interesting graffiti everywhere as well as packs of dogs. The dogs reminded me of Disney movies like All Dogs Go To Heaven where there's 7 different breeds of dogs in each pack.

This is the view from El Alto. The mountains on the horizon are the Andes. The sun was so bright, it was difficult to take a photo that does the scene justice (btw, thanks for the sunglasses, Mom!).





And this photo is taken a little further down the road, closer to La Paz proper.