After the Uyuni Salt flat tour, my health was still not 100 percent and I decided to leave back to Chile. Health is the most important, so why stress myself and travel sick? Other reason was that I missed San Pedro de Atacama and finally I just wanted to be on the beach instead of 4000m above the sea level. Perhaps there are people that can’t handle the altitude that well and I am one of them.

San Pedro was ok, but after the salt flats, it was not a breathtaking experience. I didn’t feel like visiting more lagunas or slat flats, so the only thing that I did (besides sleeping) was biking in the desert Atacama. This was cool, even though it was hot like crazy.

Biking in the Moon Valley, desert Atacama, Chile

After San Pedro I left to Arica, city it the very north of Chile. Arica is on the coast and when I found the Surf hostel, there was nothing to think about. I stayed for 5 days and enjoyed the beach, sun, great people and surf. My health was back, I was full of energy so it was time to continue with my trip. I took a bus to Arequipa in Peru and stayed for another 5 days. There will be separate posts about Peru, right now I just want to return back to La Paz…

Looking at La Paz, it is a surreal city for me

I felt kind of guilty, while I’ve been in Arica and Arequipa, that I skipped La Paz and the lake Titicaca. It was bothering me for some days, so I had to go back to Bolivia. When I saw La Paz from the top of a mountain, it was love at first sight. I also found out that there were lots of travellers that I met in Patagonia, so it was like arriving to a place where I have been before. The only problem was that I stayed in the famous “Wild rover” party hostel. Since I started traveling (at that point 3.5 months ago), I haven’t been really partying. This hostel was like an Irish pub full of Irish, British, Australian and other “western” travellers (sorry if I haven’t used the right term 🙂 First days were real fun, but later it started to be annoying, seeing all these drunken guys that just wanted three things…

a scene from the Wild rover hostel…

La Paz surprised me though. It is a much more modern city than I thought and I felt good there. Suddenly the altitude (3660m) was not a problem as before, I got used to it. There is a lot you can do here, e.g. book trips to go to the pampa y la selva (Rurrenabaque), or bike the “Death road”. You can also visit the surroundings of La Paz, e.g. Coroico or trek Huayna Potosí or party every night. I didn’t do any of that. I got totally absorbed by the city life and the only thing that I wanted to do was sightseeing and visiting the local product and food markets.

Presidential palace in La Paz

Though, there were two activities that I did in La Paz. First I visited the “cholitas luchadoras” show. The free translation would be like – the traditional Bolivian women wrestling – show. This spectacle takes place every Sunday in part of the city called “El Alto” which is 3 962m above sea level and you can have a brilliant view on La Paz form there. Honestly, first hour was really funny, but when the men started to be more and more aggressive towards the cholita, I started to be annoyed. I just can’t look at any form of violence (even as a show) that is happening on women. This show turned out to be the weirdest show of my life, but I am happy that I experienced it. Especially the local fans were so into it that it was worth watching them.

Here is a little example from the show, when the husband of cholita entered the ring to help her…

Happy fans of cholitas – female wrestling

Second activity that I did was visiting the “Moon Valley” in the outskirts of La Paz. This valley looked really cool and I still can’t believe that it was made by the nature. I felt like on the planet Mars.

Moon Valley in Bolivia, close to La Paz

Last but not least, did you know that La Paz means peace in English? For me this city was everything, just not a peaceful moment. It was very chaotic, in a way exciting and attractive. And most importantly I realized, that while traveling I don’t want to spend my time partying and meeting drunk travelers.
After La Paz, the next destination was Isla del Sol on the Lake Titicaca. The real peaceful moment was about to come…