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La Paz: the highest capital city in the world, looks like a moon crater. The city is 4km (2mi) above sea level. Even oxygen is at a premium. Life and colors of La Paz is found in its people and culture. Find a good vantage point and watch the passing throng: women wearing bowler hats (worn on the side if they're single and on top if they're married) and voluminous skirts; white-shirted businessmen and politicians; machine-gun toting military; and beggars asleep under awnings, wrapped up like sarcophagi. People congregate around the splendid Iglesia de San Francisco with its arresting blend of mestizo and Spanish styles. Behind the church is the Witches' Market, where you can buy a bizarre assortment of goods including amulets, potions, delicately crafted silver jewelry, sweets and dried llama foetuses. La Paz also has a number of museums (Museo Costumbrista Juan de Vargas, Museo de Metales Preciosos Pre-Columbinos).
Around La Paz is Valle de la Luna, which is an eroded hillside maze of miniature canyons and pinnacles east of the city; the spectacular Zongo Valley,north of the city, which has ice caves, turquoise lakes and the peak of Huayna Potosí and the historical ceremonial centre of Tiahuanaco, west of the city, which is Bolivia's most important archaeological site.
Cochabamba:
Reputed to have the world's most perfect climate, the city of Cochabamba occupies a fertile green bowl in a landscape of fields and low hills. The city, founded in 1574, is Bolivia 's largest market town and was once the nation's granary. It is still prosperous and progressive, and has a clutch of historical and archaeological attractions, including the 400-year-old cathedral, the Convento de Santa Teresa and the Museo Arqueológico.
WHAT TO SEE: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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