Every big-city transportation system has its quirks and La Paz is no exception. This guide is intended for the visitor or short-term resident who wants a leg up before subiendo one of the many options available for getting around La Paz.

¿Taxi, Trufi, Minibus, Micro o Flota?

TAXIS come in two varieties: Radio taxis which charge 6 Bs. for short distances, and more for longer distances, which needs to be negoti­ated (bartered) with the driver before getting in. Advantages: they can be ordered by phone (safest), and the fare is shared among the up-to-4 passengers they can accommodate. (Ir?)Regular taxis, which charge 3 Bs. per person, are usually identifiable by wide red and green stripes on the roof and/or little signs behind the wind­-shield. Many people consider these taxis to be very dodgy as they are unregulated. To be on the safe side it is recommended to use them only during the day in the city center. Advantage: you pay less if travelling alone. Disadvantage: More expen­sive than a radio taxi if there are more than two passengers. Note: pay taxi drivers with exact change whenever possible to avoid being overcharged by a driver who claims not to have change. If you should have this problem, have the driver take you to the nearest tienda/quiosco where you can make change ¡OJO! – All fares go up at night.

TRUFI = Taxi RUta FIja: These are fixed-route taxis that charge 3 Bs. for most routes, sometimes less if the distance is shorter. They are identifiable by the larger signs propped up on their dashboards listing their main destina­tions. To use these you have to learn their routes to determine if they will take you where (or near where) you want to go. Some routes are more easily identified by the two little green or white flags attached to the front bumper. Advantages: more com­fortable, fewer stops. Disadvantage: If you have long legs don’t be the first to get in the front seat or you may be the one expected to cozy up to the driver, who will knock your legs every time he shifts gears, shoving your knees ever more forcefully into your chin. In this position you can kiss your teeth good-bye if he neglects to slow down for a rompemuelles.

CARRY (Suzuki model name) has become the term used to refer to most small fixed-route vans, usually seating 6-7 passengers. They charge a minimum of 1.50 Bs. even if you just go a block or two. Disadvantage: sardine syndrome, i.e. not much leg or head room.

MINIBUS refers to large fixed-route vans seating 11-14 passengers that normally charge 1.50 or 2.30 Bs. The “official” fare is 2.30 Bs. - but many drivers offer a lower fare in the hope of getting more riders. Some drivers will tell you they charge the higher price during peak hours or after a cer­tain time at night, but there is no con­sistency to these claims. Look for fare signs on the dash; if there isn’t one assume they’re charging 2.30 Bs. or ask before boarding. Disadvantages: they typically make many stops and you often have to get out, repeated­ly, to allow other passengers to bajar. To avoid this try to get the seat next to the driver or on the far left side of any row. Typically minibuses will have a voceador/a on board to collect fares, shout out the destinations to attract passengers (also for the illiterate or folks with poor vision), and to advise the driver of upcoming stop requests. They will often announce when they are about to collect fares by saying “Se alisten sus pasajes – sueltitos no más (por favor)”, which means “Get your fares ready – small change only (please)”. Paying with 20 Boliviano bills or larger is not appreciated, though many locals take advantage of mini­buses to make the change they will need for the day. If the driver stops short of your stop and says “se puede aprovechar” you are being invited to get out early, usually because it will be difficult (they are in an outside lane) or take a while (long lines caused by traffic lights) to get to your exact stop.

MICRO is the inaccurate name given to the big, old, brightly-painted, retired school buses that traverse the city at a more leisurely pace. They are the preferred choice of those want­ing to get the most bang for their bolo (Boliviano) or for the infirm who have difficulty getting in and out of taxis. Advantages: cheaper - just “un pesito” (1 Bs.), and you can ride when it’s standing-room only, though not comfortably if you happen to be tall.

The drivers of all of the above modes of transport appreciate being advised of your intention to get off one block before doing so. Common expres­sions include: “esquina (corner) bajo”, “me quedo esquina”, “en la parada” (bus stop), “en la pasarela” (pedes­trian bridge), & “en el semáforo” (traffic light).

FLOTAS, the denomination given to long-distance buses, which can be found at the main bus terminal. They go to all major Bolivian cities and some will take you to such far-flung destinations as Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. It’s a good idea to buy your ticket at the terminal a day be­fore travelling, or sooner if during the holidays. If going to destinations such as Cuzco shared taxis, minibuses and micros all leave from within a block or two of the cemetery. Disadvantage: Don’t expect to arrive on time as most flotas, more often than not, suffer at least one flat tyre en route. And since most don’t carry spares, it takes a while to fix and remount a replace­ment. If your bus doesn’t have a flat, consider it your lucky day!

Transport Etiquette

· Before setting a price with a taxi driver one should greet the driver with “Buenos días/tardes/noches” as ap­propriate.

· When getting into a trufi it is con­sidered good form to greet the other passengers in a like manner.

· In a Carry or minibus greeting is op­tional. In a micro greetings are rarely heard. A good rule of thumb is the cheaper the fare, the less politeness is expected.

· Door-closing is an acquired skill. The goal is to avoid being reprimanded by the driver for closing one with too much force, or for not using enough force, resulting in having to open and close the door again. Allegedly both of these acts of passenger negligence “drastically” shorten the service-life of the door’s lock and hinges. To prevent amateur riders from committing this felony, fastidious drivers only allow the voceador/a to shut the doors. As each door in each vehicle is differ­ent from the next we’re talking about quite a daunting skill, mastered only by the select few.

· Long and loud cell phone conversa­tions are commonly, though unfortu­nately, tolerated. Some “technology-challenged” passengers increase the volume of their conversations in proportion to the distance between them and the person they are speak­ing to. If someone is shouting you can wager they are probably talking to someone in El Alto – screaming is usu­ally reserved for calls to Santa Cruz.

· If you’re an MP3 user, be aware that people will have to tap you on the shoulder to get your attention for pay­ing your fare or to have you get out so the passengers you’re blocking can do the same.

Despite some of the minor discom­forts, the system is really quite efficient. Most drivers will pick you up curbside wherever you happen to be and won’t complain if you are schlepping half your household with you – shop­ping bags, flower arrangements, birthday cakes and babies are all welcome.

All you need do is flag one down, hop on/in and grab a seat.

Follow Sarah Lund on a free ramble through the sights, sounds, smells and surprises of the Bolivian capital.

The city of La Paz climbs up the surrounding mountainsides and you’ll have to climb yourself in order to enjoy its many splendours. At 3,660m the city offers some impressive views. Wherever you are, you will be able to discern the landmark in the La Paz’s horizon - the three-peaked and always snowcapped Mount Illimani. At night the city lights create a carpet of glittering stars against the black hillsides.

Down in the streets you might be overwhelmed by the swarm of buses, cars, stray dogs, police, children, guards, modern office towers, street performers and road vendors. Old smoky school buses defy gravity as they fight their way up and down the steep and crooked hills of this jumbled city. ‘Voceadores’ hang out the windows of the public minibuses, shouting out destinations and competing for road space and customers among the honking taxis, “trufis” (shared cabs) and trucks. Minibuses are available everywhere and cost just 1.50 to 2.30 Bs per journey. Remember to ask for directions. A taxi usually costs 8-15 Bs, though can be more expensive late at night. Tourists are advised to only use those cabs that are marked ‘Radio taxi’.

Up here in this beautiful and perfectly formed chaos between the Andes the streets are filled with all the world’s products - you can have your keys copied in a few seconds by men working at old turning machines. You can purchase a bicycle wheel, find household items, pasta, fresh cheese, CDs or Coca leaves, spoil yourself with beautiful handmade alpaca woollies or pick up a dead llama. The so-called Black Market, starting at the intersection of Calle Max Paredes and Calle Graneros is a vibrant maze of abundance. Here you might meet a teenage model side by side with butchers removing the entrails of a freshly killed pig.

If this city crowd makes you hungry, go grab an empanada, a salteña or an ice cream cone for a few Bs from one of the countless vendors whose small businesses line the streets. Whether you’re after a kilo of mandarins or a handful of bananas (for just 1 Boliviano), you will always find an amazing selection of fresh produce, and when your thirst strikes, can you enjoy a freshly squeezed pineapple, orange or banana juice from one of the small stalls offering every fruit imaginable.

You’ll find a cholita sitting at each puesto. These conspicuous caceras, in their traditional colourful skirts that sway from side to side, with their long black braids, fringed scarves and small bowler hats spend the day until sunset selling their wares while their babies sleep in a pink bundle of blankets on their backs. At the end of the day they pack their entire business into a huge shawl and struggle home with it - only to return the following morning.

Get your shoes polished and meet a zebra

You can get your shoes, sneakers or sandals polished for just 2 Bs by the ‘lustrabotas’. These extremely poor boys and men run around everywhere in their balaclavas, carrying their equipment and very eager to polish your shoes. They are also happy to offer you a copy of their newspaper, “El Hormigón Armado,” (see p.10) which costs 4 Bs, the profits from which go towards supporting them to have a better and more dignified life. If you want to visit their organisation and headquarters you can do so and at the same time enjoy a cup of coffee at ‘El Centro de Arte y Cultura Boliviana’ (on Av. Ecuador)

El Prado is La Paz’s central promenade. Here you’ll find larger shops or restaurants selling La Paz’s favourite fast food - pollo (chicken) prepared in 30 different ways, as well as shoe shops and many Internet and telephone cabinas. While walking around exploring new arrivals should take it slow so the altitude doesn’t get the better of you. Stop for a rest at the Plaza San Francisco, the old colonial church at the top end of El Prado. This area is a hub for traffic, office workers, vendors, and the novel zebras who accompany children, tourists and other pedestrians safely across the road. Waving their stop and go signs and dancing around in their endearing black and white costumes, they are an entertaining counterpart to the armed and uniformed police guards, who make efforts to regulate the busy traffic with their dogs, hand signals and whistles. In La Paz, it is also easy to get lost among large groups of shouting protesters in front of government buildings on El Prado. Many demonstrations take place in La Paz and several times a day you can notice the loud ‘pang pang’ of their cannon fireworks.

Lose yourself in a riot of colours - and buy a dead llama

Climb the charming Sagarnaga Street behind the San Francisco church and you will suddenly find yourself in the middle of an exotic colourfest of hand knitted goods, often but not always genuinely alpaca, as well as leatherwork and a sumptuous selection of jewellery. It is always possible to bargain the price a bit.

Suddenly you meet a strange smell of incense and a llama hung dangling from a stands’ tarp covering. You’ve come to the infamous Calle de las Brujas or witches’ market, where you can find everything a witch might need. Located on Calle Linares between Jimenez and Sagarnaga Streets and Santa Cruz, the vendors here sell folk remedies, soapstone figures, aphrodisiac formulas, dried herbs, dried insects and frogs. You can buy dried llama foetuses in all sizes, which are used as offerings to the goddess Pachamama (Mother Earth).

Up high in El Alto or down towards Zona Sur

If you continue down El Prado, keeping sight of Illimani in the distance, you will arrive at the beautiful, quieter area of Sopocachi. Here the atmosphere is different to the older part of town, and you’ll find many modern cafes with WiFi and a variety of international menus. Two different supermarkets offer a wide selection of local and imported goods. In the beautiful Plaza Avaroa you can take a rest overlooking an architectural mix of tall glass buildings alongside ancient colonial beauties. Here you might meet the local ‘malabaristas’ - jugglers who entertain motorists at the street intersections. Children can play in the playground and you can grab a coffee to go at Alexander’s Coffee - La Paz’s answer to Starbucks.

Continuing downhill you find the city’s main bridge, Puente de las Americas, which unites the city’s two parts. Walk across the bridge and take in the stunning panoramic view over the city. You can also take a steep hike up to the highest view point, El Mirador Montículo, an ideal and popular place to photograph the city from, as well as enjoy a rest in the shade.

South of La Paz city centre is Zona Sur, the wealthier part of town. This area has blossomed in the last 30 years and contains shopping centers with expensive brands and fine restaurants and hotels.

Diametrically opposed and 500 metres higher up in the mountains, the suburb of El Alto is closer to the clouds and its long streets are buzzing. This much poorer area is peppered with markets and shops selling white goods, traffic signs, tools and industrial machinery. The atmosphere is more chaotic and intense - a fascinating sight and worth a visit during the daytime. One sees no tourists - but this part of town gives a more realistic picture of the locals’ living conditions.

Arriving in Bolivia by plane, I was amazed by the view of the capital: a landscape of small, red, square houses slotted in together like puzzle-pieces. Their shining roofs mirrored the sun on the eastern and western Laderas of La Paz that spread up the mountainsides. As they glittered be­fore the soft backdrop of the famous Illimani mountain looming on the horizon, I felt I could not have been welcomed by a more beautiful sight.

On a Tuesday afternoon I met Leonardo Gonzales, 31, a free­lance architect who has studied and worked in Europe. He describes himself as a modern architect of a minimalist style. He arrived in his sports gear at a light jog, and we sat down in a sunny spot in the Plaza Avaroa with our coffees.

‘The constructions in the Laderas are in poor condition’, he remarked, ‘considering their location on the mountainsides. They would not last if it suddenly started to rain a lot - the water would collect in lakes down the hillsides, underneath the houses – it would be a catastrophe with the water washing away everything – a ravine of horror hitting down towards the heart of La Paz.’ Unfortunately, this is not a purely hypothetical scenario. Every summer, as the rains arrive, dozens of homes start slid­ing gracefully down the hillside and into oblivion. Built like puzzles, they unfortunately disassemble just as easily as their child’s-toy equivalent, leaving many of those that manage to survive homeless every year.

The houses are made of red bricks and many remain unfinished with construction wires sticking through so the owners can expand their buildings by adding more floors. The explana­tion for this is that home owners do not have to pay taxes while their house is unfinished.

Many of these households do not have basic services such as electricity or water facilities. This partly explains why residents organise their abodes in tight family communities. As Leonardo explains, ‘It is more realistic for a community of households than for a single household to lobby the govern­ment in order to get access to these kinds of services.’

On entering La Paz itself I quickly found that the city’s buildings com­prise a wide range of architectural styles, all packed tightly together. The centre of La Paz boasts modern, New-York-style skyscrapers whose reflective façade is built of sturdier, costlier stuff than those ephemerally twinkling Ladera mirrors that so struck me on arrival. These varying colours, sizes and shapes make for a salient contrast with the surrounding moun­tainsides. It is almost as if man had tried to imitate the craggy peaks around him. When asked about these overwhelming edifices, Leonardo stares straight ahead and hesitates for a second before continuing:

‘I consider these big, tall buildings a violation of the law system: as soon as the construction companies have their permission to build, they do not care - mas es mejor - the more flats you can build on one floor, and the more floors, the better, it is all about money. The constructors think in terms of economics not of aesthetics. As a result they use cheap materials like concrete and bricks. The Monoblocks are only modern in the sense of being functional and simple. La Paz has expanded rapidly as a metropolis during the last five decades and new buildings are still being constructed everywhere you look.’

‘As the city started to grow massively during the 60’s and 70’s the architec­tural style here was under influence of the USA and Europe – El Banco Cen­tral is a building that symbolizes that. These modern Monoblocks stand next to traditional baroque buildings from the colonial period, of which the San Francisco church and the National Art Museum are clear examples.’

Leonardo uses the term ‘construc­tors’ instead of ‘architects’ because he cannot think of the minds behind these buildings as true architects, only money-minded engineers. But as the possibility of jobs and money con­tinues to spur mass scale migration from the countryside to La Paz and El Alto – with a nine percent increase in migrants to El Alto every year - one can perhaps understand this ‘mas es mejor’ approach.

‘Other big cities are typically known for their style of architecture’, says Leonardo, ‘or have a special famous building with a symbolic meaning. We do not have that here in La Paz. Our city, as the highest capital in the world, has the mountains that take the focus, and especially Illimani, which you can spot no matter where you are in La Paz. The architectural skyline is less significant than the view of Illimani.’

There are some traditional Bolivian houses still tucked away in La Paz, hidden behind the tall new buildings. Leonardo and I left our coffee spot and went for a stroll in Sopocachi where he pointed out some of the older build­ings. They are pretty houses, built to charm, and seem somehow left be­hind. These however, are a lucky few, Leonardo explains that in fact many buildings that still have original, his­toric interiors have had their facades built over to create a modern style. I ask Leonardo what he thinks the city will be like architecturally in the future:

‘I think eventually the architecture will become more uniform and we will get a common city style like other metropolises, but the people have to learn to appreciate aesthetics. And we need money.’

‘Anyway,’ he adds,’I don’t think it will be with me behind the desk. I wish to go back to Europe and work, be­cause I feel the desire to design, not just construct.’