La Paz, Bolivia

I arrived in La Paz very early (5 am or so), and nervously took an unmarked cab in the dark to my hostel. All was well and I was able to get organized and hang around for a bit until it was light. I had a quick breakfast and met an English girl, Gani, and we set out to explore La Paz. We checked out all the major sites, and ended up spending hours in the Witches market, complete with every tourist souvenir you can imagine, as well as llama fetuses hanging about (and lots of other creepy witchy things). It's amazing how busy La Paz is, even on a Sunday. The streets were small (and very slippery because the stones were so worn) and packed with a thousand times more cars than they can hold. There are more minibusses than anything else, all driving around (trying to hit pedestrians) with their doors open and people hanging out shouting their destinations as fast as they can say them. Gani and I grabbed some street meat and headed back to the hostel in time to go to the Cholitas Wrestling, a very disappointingly sober event (well, we went outside to little stands to buy beers, but couldn't have them inside because people get too rowdy and throw things), but a great experience none-the-less. It began with a two men fighting (all very staged, it's almost like an ice skating act), but then the women came in and it got even better! Unfortunately the bus left us there and we had quite an adventure getting home, but we went out afterwards and it was still a great night.
The next day I got up early to go bike down "Death Road", aptly named as it was the most dangerous road in the world until about 10 years ago when they built another road to replace it. Until then, it claimed over 300 lives per year, and now still there have been 28 deaths in the last 10 years, sadly, one of which was just two weeks before we went. The road is hardly one lane, just a dirt/mud road which is on a cliff the entire time. Some people still use it (stupidly) because it is an hour faster than the new road to La Paz. In the course of a couple hours we dropped 3700 meters-- went from very cold to relaxing by the pool afterwards. Luckily we had great bikes with excellent suspension, so all was well. When we got home we were happy to be in one piece and went out for a verrry long night of celebration, but it was quite a good time!
My last day in La Paz Gani and I just shopped till we dropped, almost literally, feasted in the local food market (gigantic lunch of something unidentifiable for about $.60 USD). I had to buy a new bag in order to fit all my new goods. I really regret not getting more things in Asia, so I'm taking no prisoners now. Finally I went to a mirador (viewpoint) of the city. It was beautiful. The entire city is built almost in the shape of a bowl, with only a few blocks of levelness at the very bottom. Nearly all of the houses are red-brick color so it makes for a gorgeous skyline. We took it easy this night as we had early busses in the morning, but La Paz was a blast!