To start with, you have to understand about altitude. When you leave Miami, your're at a few feet above sea level. When you get out of the airplane, seven hours or so later, you're suddenly at about 14,000 feet! Just the act of walking from the plane to the baggage area made me dizzy. And that lasted until I got to the hotel which was below at a mere 12,000 feet or so.

There are few level streets in La Paz. For the first day or two, gaining altitude just walking the streets caused some heavy breathing. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures here because (probably) of my dislike for cities.

We did a visit to the main square of town, and one of my fellow travelers, Erika, fed the birds. As you can see (or as our guide was fond of saying, "you can appreciate...") that this made for some happy birds...

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La Paz is located on a plateau between two branches of the Andes. The Altiplano is typically about the altitude of the airport, and the city is built on a river valley running out of the Altiplano. To call it a city of urban sprawl is accurate. The pictures may give you some flavor of what I mean...

In the city we encountered an unusual game at a museum. For those who don't trust my Spanish, and you might be wise not to, the description is in the first picture. Here's what it says in Gringo:

Toad game. Old custom. Game with 12 chips or coins, which were tossed into the openings on the board. The main objective is to toss one into the mouth of the toad.

Archeologically, Tiahuanaco is an important pre-Inca site, located on the way from La Paz to Lake Titicaca. See the map below if you're curious.

The pictures from Tiahuanaco follow, although three explanations are needed. I can't make up my mind whether the first picture, of the Andes coming back from Tiahuanaco, is a really great or a really bad picture. The lighting contrasts are what caught my eye. There is a picture of a stone framed by ann arch which says "VUELVE PRONTO". For you Gringos, that's: "Y'all come back real soon now, heah?" The last explanation deals with persons communing with rocks. Our guide said that if you put your hands on the stone, you would feel the power. I don't recall anyone saying they could feel it...