La Paz--Part I (I LOVE this city!)

I was really excited to explore the city of La Paz. Stace had told me I would love it, and she was right! The first day I spent in La Paz was perfect. I arrived at my hostel a little before 7 am, and found out I would have a double room to myself! I was in love with my hostel immediately. It was clean, I had an upstairs room away from the common areas, the staff were incredibly helpful. At one point, one of the hostel workers chased me several blocks down the street because he had given me the wrong name of a restaurant! So, if you are ever in La Paz, I recommend you stay at Arthy's Guesthouse. It was an awesome place. I spent several hours that morning snoozing, then headed to the tourist district, where I ate a huge breakfast, booked a tour to some ruins, and bought my bus ticket to Copacabana. After these errands were taken care of, it was time for lunch, so I went for some "traditional" La Paz food, which ended up being llama steak smothered in onions and tomatos. I love eating llama. It is really lean and has a delicious, rich taste to it. I am already scheming to hatch a llama farm when I return to the States so I can eat it all the time! I also had a Bolivian beer, called Huari, which went straight to my head because of the altitude (Bolivia is something like 3,600 meters above sea level).

My delicious lunch.
After lunch, I had a museum day, and came to appreciate La Paz even more. The Bolivian culture is very vibrant and diverse, and in general, I found Bolivians very proud of their culture. The museums I visited all gave me a very clear understanding of the different cultural expressions in the country.

The first museum was on Calle Jaen, a darling colonial alleyway. All the museums I visited were housed in beautiful old colonial buildings, too, which added even more to my appreciation. The first museum was a museum of musical instruments and nothing more. It displayed the history of Bolivian musical instruments, from pre-Colombian times to the present. There were rooms devoted to guitars, flutes, drums, and some very interesting indigenous instruments I had never encountered before. You could play some of them, and as you entered a new room, music utilizing the instruments on display would start playing to give you an idea of how the instruments sounded. It was an incredible museum.

The second museum was also on Calle Jaen, and housed a small collection of pre-Colombian gold, silver, and copper pieces. I love imagining the ancient, indigenous people of Bolivia all decked out in their precious metals.

Calle Jaen.
Next, I walked toward downtown to the Museo Folklorico y Etnografico to view over 167 pieces of Bolivian weaving, charting the evolution of style from pre-Colombian times to the present. I love Andean textiles, and different parts of Bolivia have developed very distinct and beautiful styles of weaving over the centuries. There was also an incredible room of masks, again pre-Colombian to the present, including elaborate and creepy Carnaval masks and masks used in Amazonian tribes as well. Then there was an entire room of ceremonial accoutrements that utilized feathers. My favorite pieces consisted of flamingo and toucan feathers. The feathers from the Amazon were incredibly vibrant. There were also videos of ceremonial dances in which the performers wore the types of costumes on display. I was entranced, especially seeing the men dancing with huge headdresses made out of wild feathers. There was also a room of pottery, but I have seen my fair share of pottery by now, so I only briefly walked through it.

The incredible old building that houses the Museo Folklorico.

My final museum visit of the day was at the Museum of Fine Art, which housed paintings and sculptures from Bolivian painters from all over the country. There were numerous old religious paintings, a spectacular modern art room, and rooms that chronicled the history of Bolivia through paintings. My favorite room was a tribute to one of the most famous Bolivian painters, which also displayed his influences and showed the connection between his works and painters that came after him. Many of his paintings focused on indigenous groups, and were spectacular!

The inside courtyard of the Museum of Fine Art.

More cool old architecture, as seen from the inside courtyard of the Museo Folklorico.

I wrapped up my busy day by lounging briefly in the Plaza de Murillo, which contains the cathedral and the presidential palace. It was a busy and beautiful plaza filled with pigeons, kids chasing pigeons, and families. I felt very comfortable and welcomed here. Everyone had warned me about being safe in Bolivia and watching my things, but I was really enamored of the city after spending only one day there.

Different views of the Plaza.

Cathedral, obvio.

The presidential palace is on the right.