Real Talk by Curtis Tan

Prior to arriving in La Paz, Bolivia was the country I was least excited to visit. After watching a brief documentary on VICE, all I knew going in was that it was very easy to buy a gun and that Bolivia was the poorest country in South America. When you combine the two, one can only assume the worst. To my surprise and many others in the program, I was wrong. Outside of my trip to Patagonia, Bolivia has been hands down my favorite country to visit in South America.

Unlike Montevideo and Buenos Aires, which are both rather Western cities, living in La Paz is quite the unique experience. Everything is just much more extreme relative to living in western society. The first thing you will notice immediately is the altitude. At an average elevation of 3500m, you can easily get winded just walking a few blocks. Although only about 20% of people are affected by altitude sickness, I definitely recommend taking diamox (oral pills) a few days prior to your arrival just in case. You don’t want to risk feeling weak, tired, dizzy or even vomit when you’re on vacation.

With an indigenous population of over 60%, you will also see many people wearing very traditional outfits when walking around town. Cholitas (indigenous Bolivian women) are primarily known for wearing bowler hats, which are great indicators of not only their personal wealth, but their relationship status as well. Story has it that the bowler hats were originally intended for men, but when the shipment arrived and the hats ended up being smaller than expected, they gave it to the women instead.

Other aspects I experienced unique to La Paz included the following:

• People commonly chew Coca leaves (base for the drug cocaine) to combat altitude sickness. Perfectly legal and widely available everywhere. It is however illegal to bring outside of the country.
• Bolivians tend to speak slower and annunciate their words more relative to other Spanish speaking countries. The Spanish in Bolivia is much easier for non-native speakers to understand.
• Taxi’s don’t have meters. Make sure you negotiate a fare before you get in. To prevent getting scammed, always call for a taxi or use the “Easy Taxi” app.
• The local buses here are pretty much vans that have people shouting their end destination throughout the day. People will just hop in and out and pay as needed.
• You should not brush your teeth with tap water because you may catch parasites. Also, be careful when you order salads because they may wash it with tap water.
• In general, the country’s infrastructure is very third world. Be ready to slum it in certain parts of the country.
• Internet infrastructure is one of the worst in South America. Your connection can get dropped randomly throughout the day.
• People here are terrible at sports, including soccer.
• Cholitas will try to get attention of their male counterpart by flashing their ankles and calves because men prefer women who are strong and self-sufficient.
• You can find shoe shiners on every street corner.

Things I definitely recommend seeing/doing while in Bolivia:

• Salt Flats
• Most Dangerous Road
• Pink Dolphins Tour in Amazon
• Moon Valley (day trip from La Paz)
• White water rafting and zip-lining in Nor Yungas
• Hiking through the jungle
• Titikaka Lake
• Cholita Wrestling (it’s a tourist trap, but still pretty unique)