Day 1 -- 22nd Sep
Time
5:55	We touched down at the world's highest international airport, at El Alto (The Heights, 4061m), Bolivia.
6:25	Good morning, La Paz! After clearing customs, we emerged from the airport and met Wendy, our guide in Bolivia. The highway from the airport quickly left El Alto behind and led us high above the Rio Choqueyapu Valley, inside which nested La Paz (3600m), the administrative capital of Bolivia.
7:15	The full name of La Paz is La Ciudad de Nuestra Señora de La Paz (the City of Our Lady of Peace). It is one of the two capitals of Bolivia. Scure, the judicial captial, is 300 km to the southeast.) The shuttle took us to Hotel Presidente at downtown La Paz. We had breakfast at the hotel, and then retired to our room and rested, both for acclimatization to the altitude and for recovery from an exhausting overnight flight.
12:30	Sipping on cocoa Tea. After several hours of sleep we were much refreshed. We ordered some cocoa tea ($2 for a big pot, very cheap), which was supposed to help alleviating the symptoms of altitude sickness. As the name suggested, cocoa tea was cocoa leaves brewed in hot water; this drink was illegal in US, so it must be good. Its leafy taste might take some getting used to (we were both big green tea drinkers, so it was easier for us to get used to it), but in the coming three weeks, we would be drinking a lot of cocoa tea.
13:00	Could not suppress our urge for adventure any longer, we left the hotel and began our exploration.
13:10	Several blocks from the hotel was Plaza Murillo. It was a Saturday afternoon, and many locals were enjoying their leisure at the Plaza, feeding the pigeons. As a result, Plaza Murillo had the highest pigeon density of all the plazas in the world we have ever visited. Flanking the Plaza was the Palacio del Congreso (Congressional Palace), the Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace, where the president lives), and the Catedral (Cathedral), inside which weddings were taking place. (Latinos evidently like open-door weddings; throughout the ceremony tourists like us were wandering in and out and around the Cathedral, but the wedding parties did not seem to be bothered by us.)
Well-fed pigeons. CK giving the pigeons some exercise. Fried-chicken promotion lady, and the mascot. Adorabel apple-faced nina and her grandpa. Plaza Murillo; Cathedral in the background. Altar in the Cathedral. Bolivian soldiers. Presidential Palace.
13:55	Boliviano (B$) With the falling dollar, during our trip 1 US$ = 7.8 B$, making the boliviano have the same value as the Hong Kong dollar. Emily's shopping spree. Leaving Plaza Murillo, we followed Calle Ingavi, which was packed with stalls selling all kind of goods: clothings, purses, CDs/DVDs (Spanish and English), stationaries, and of course, snacks. Prices were really low (by US standard).
14:30	Courtyard & hallways of the Museo. Calle Ingavi led us to Plaza San Francisco, which was the center of La Paz city. We visited the Museo San Francisco (St. Francis Museum) and World Press Photo exhibition. In the past, the museum was the cloister of ...
13:45	Iglesia de San Francisco. The Iglesia de San Francisco (Church of St. Francis), famous for its facade and its stone carvings. Unfortunately, the church was closed and we did not get to see its interior. Before the church was Plaza San Francisco, where many locals were enjoying the Saturday.
15:30	We returned to the hotel, which was just a block from Plaza San Francisco. We had been advised to avoid physical overexertion during acclimatization, so we took it easy and sipped cocoa tea while flipping through Bolivian TV channels (lots of US shows, some subtitled and some dubbed).
19:55	We had dinner at the rooftop restaurant of the hotel. Being a city in a valley, La Paz after sunset was like a huge bowl studded with thousands of lights, from the city center all the way up to the rim at El Alto. The restaurant, with its huge windows, took full advantage of the spectacular view, which was more impressive than the food.
21:00	Not yet completely recovered from the flight, we went to bed early. next day
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