Well, if you can't get through road blocks, fly over them. In the best of conditions, it is an 18 hour bus journey to La Paz from Santa Cruz. In the current conditions, it could be around a 24 hour total journey, with maybe an 8-10 hour layover midway through. It took one hour to fly. One. Best $83 I have spent on the trip, regardless if I said I was't going to fly. The flight had incredible views, and we passed within hundreds of feet from a towering giant of a mountain, with patterns in the snow field plainly visible from our seats on the plane before 
descending into the highest airport in the world.La Paz is an incredible city. The setting is stunning and adds so much character to the city. I am not sure what I expected, but the reality of La Paz was far different, better in many ways. Flying in we landed on the upper plateau above the city, then took a micro bus (a.k.a. small van) down into the city. The first view from the canyon top was breathtaking. Looking down from the flat plateau, the city sprawls out through a deep 
canyon and up its walls, forming itself fluidly to the terrain rather than the other way around. The city already sits at about 12,000 feet, but in the distance massive, snowy mountains tower over the flat plateau. It is quite possibly the most impressive setting for a city I have ever seen.
canyon and up its walls, forming itself fluidly to the terrain rather than the other way around. The city already sits at about 12,000 feet, but in the distance massive, snowy mountains tower over the flat plateau. It is quite possibly the most impressive setting for a city I have ever seen.Contrary to its name (meaning The Peace, which is really just short for the Nuestra Señora de La Paz <>, following the strong Latin American Catholic tradition) , the street life of La Paz is better described as simply chaotic. Smoky busses and vans spew out exhaust as solicitors shout 
out destinations in robotic voices to pedestrians. Get 10 vans in one location, and it is a free-for-all auction for destinations, and one of the weirdest, funniest sights I have seen (and heard). For entertainment you can wander the slanted roads winding up the canyon walls, weave through stands in the street market, and eat a three course meal for about a dollar. There is also a lot to do around La Paz, but more on that in later posts. I feel many times while visiting cities that I could just be in any other city in any other place, but La Paz was a place all its own, and a welcome surprise along the traveling road.
out destinations in robotic voices to pedestrians. Get 10 vans in one location, and it is a free-for-all auction for destinations, and one of the weirdest, funniest sights I have seen (and heard). For entertainment you can wander the slanted roads winding up the canyon walls, weave through stands in the street market, and eat a three course meal for about a dollar. There is also a lot to do around La Paz, but more on that in later posts. I feel many times while visiting cities that I could just be in any other city in any other place, but La Paz was a place all its own, and a welcome surprise along the traveling road. 
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