Our final leg of our Sacred Inka Trail tour sees us make our way to La Paz the capital of Bolivia. At 3800m above sea level, La Paz is the highest captial in the world and with its poor infrastruture, over population, poverty, a self-governing prison and an envelope of pollution that smothers the city, it is the ugly sister of capitals in South America.
Each upward step in La Paz sucks us dry and we can feel the effect of the altitude first hand as we walk the streets. We feel like cardiac failure patients hobbling forward, breath labouring and our heart pounding to a tachycardia rhythm as we search for the witches market. The witches market with its trinkets, potions, offerings and mummified llama foetus', like most of La Paz is a tad disappointing. The one saving grace is the value for money you get in regards to food and drink, and the food has been very good indeed.
La Paz also sees us say goodbye to our touring party who for 15 days have endured vicious attacks by flying cochroaches in the amazon, the squat toliets of the Inka's, the altitude that redesigns your bowels, the rhythmic beats of reggae, bus trips, pisco brandy and numerous top ten lists. So to Peter and Helen, Kirsty, Steph, Emer, Anja, Lucy, Jonanthan and Sarah-Jane, thanks for the craic, the laughs and the stories, you certainly have made it into the top ten list of travelling companions.
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