The Two Mile High City

La Paz, Bolivia

At 11,917 ft, over two miles high, La Paz is the highest capital in the world. (Lhasa in Tibet, is a bit higher at 12,097, but doesn't technically qualify since it was taken over by China in 1950.) The city is huge and stretches out over the mountain sides in all directions. For some reason, Dex threw up last night, so it was a slow morning, and he and Kylie spent most of it in the hotel room.  

Nearby Iglesia de San Francisco

Micro bus

Our big adventure of the day was taking the elevated cable car system, Mi Teleferico, up to the adjoining and equally large city of El Alto. The cities seem to stretch on forever with red brick buildings sprawling out along the hillsides and canyons. The overhead tram, just completed a couple years ago, offers amazing views as it silently ferries passengers over homes, streets, soccer fields, canyons and roadways. There are currently four different lines, the red and blue up north to El Alto, and the yellow and green down south with six more in the works. After taking the out and back tour in the blue line, Dex, Kylie, and I stopped to explore the huge open air market that filled in the street for a kilometer or more.

El Alto with mountains in the background

The Sunday outdoor market

Perhaps, because of our 13,000+ ft elevation higher up in the city, Meg had a headache so decided to skip the market and instead head back to rest at the hotel. Kylie, Dex and I wandered through the stalls amazed at the variety of goods available -- clothes, toys, electronics, food, even car parts.

Our first day ended on a quiet note as Meg was content to stay indoors and the kids too opted to stay in and read versus finding something to eat. Surprisingly, after returning from a mediocre bowl of soup at a nearby Chinese restaurant, I found Dex and Kylie waiting for me in the lobby. Hunger apparently had gotten the best of them. Dinner number two was at an Italian restaurant. Ah, the sacrifices a dad must make!