Monday, May 30, 2011

More La Paz

27.05.: La Paz

Friday:
Spent basically the entire day walking through the city, beginning with a search for the mercado negro, which probably means the same in Spanish as in our Germanic based languages. From noon on, we searched for the orphanage of the Fundacion Arco Iris, which was founded by a Priest coming from the village next to Yasmin's, so she wanted to pay a visit.

Google maps was feeling rather unhelpful -- it is generally quite bad for La Paz -- and sent us off literally 180º in the wrong direction. So it happened that we walked up one side of La Paz, finally were told the Fundacion was on the other side of the valley, walked down to the tourist info for directions, and from there through the city to the hospital Arco Iris, arrival time 5:30. A very helpful staff had us waiting for half an hour for a doctor who speaks German -- he knows Darmstadt rather well -- who then informed us that the Fundacion is strewn all over the city, and the girls orphanage, for example, is in an entirely different part of town. We nevertheless got a tour of the hospital, generally acclaimed by the populace -- exemplified by the two fine, probably drunk gentlemen who had sent us in the correct general direction -- to be the best in La Paz, and which showed quite European standards; the doctor was, for example, proud to tell us every room has a heater.

After the tour, we were taken to the director, who then proceeded not only to tell us where to find the Niñas Obrajes and how to get there, but also to make an appointment with a German girl (of South American descent) working there, who would show us around.

This unbelievably friendly welcome -- we suspect it may have something to do with German donations being the main income of the Fundacion -- was followed by a hike home through the dark city.


View Larger Map

In all, we spent around 8 hours trekking the city, time well invested: We saw many different parts of the city with diverse characters, from market laden streets between Plaza Murillo and the Cemetery district,and the poorer people's living quarters up the hills (around destination B), to the modern skyscrapers south of Plaza del Estudiante (C) and the SUV-laden rich people's living quarters around Avenida Busch and the Hospital. Plaza Murillo, at the end of our odysee, houses some (or all?) government buildings, so we also got to see some monumental buildings with grand flags, and a statue proclaiming "Gloria", "Fuerte" and "Unidad" for Bolivia.


More sometime else, the cafe is closing...

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