La Paz

La Paz is an incredible place. It was with some trepidation that we headed there, having heard the horror stories about drugs and crime. It sounds as though that story has reached the ears of the Bolivian government though, as every tourist area has a clear police presence. I didn’t once feel even remotely worried for my safety, but instead absolutely fell in love with the vibrancy and people. It’s worth noting that they love a good strike though, usually involving a blockade at the top which stops anything getting in or out of the city - bear in mind when considering short stays and connections.

Geographically, it’s an amazing phenomenon, starting with the suburb of El Alto (that’s now got a bigger population than La Paz proper) at 3,900m, travelling down into a bowl with a lowest point of 3,100m. Culturally it was our first taste of what was to come; heavily influenced by the indigenous Aymara population, we were moving away from the western influences seen in Argentina and Chile.

We survived the infamous World’s Most Dangerous Road (64km bike ride where you lose 2 miles in altitude!), then spent a day visiting the archaeological site at Tiwanaku before moving on to Lake Titicaca. At this point, we were so exhausted that the floating islands were ignored in favour of a couple of days R&R in our small hotel.

We then headed over to the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca so we could take our next journey via train. This was not your average train – trains are few and far between in South America, and this one was part of the Orient Express Group. We took full advantage of the observation carriage for photos, not to mention the happy hour for the Pisco Sours.