We love La Paz, and not only because it is here that we could finally have a shower after spending some time on night buses and floating islands.
A coup de coeur, and as is often the case with love crushes, it is difficult to put our finger on why exactly. The city has a very friendly vibe where local culture meets cosmopolitan feel. Strolling through local handicraft shops and catching pigeons among elegant Cholitas with bowler hats during the day, while dining in style at Gustu, the creative Bolivian gastronomic venture started by Noma co-founder Claus Meyer in 2013 (and now ranked 14th best restaurant in Latin America).
Its natural setting is simply stunning (spanning some 1100 meters from the wheeze-inducing heights of El Alto to its southern Zona Sur, accounting for three distinct climate zones!), and its inhabitants extremely friendly: we could keep riding up and down its wonderful telefericos simply for the lovely chitchats with the locals, be it in sign-language supported Aymara, amateur Spanish or fluent English.
If it weren't for Pepe, we might want to stay a little longer.
“La Paz, Bolivia, is the most extraordinary city.”
