Joe and Lou's Travel Blog

With our gap tour complete we had no scheduled activities so we took it easy and did some shopping in the busy streets around the center. I tried my hand at bargaining but failed miserably. These shop keepers can see a soft tourist a mile away.

While sitting in the main Plaza (the main Plaza in every town and city in South America is called Plaza de Armas) we saw a column of soldiers arrive. They blocked the road and formed a line along the street. The locals did not seem very interested as if this happens all the time. The soldiers stood there and we watched for a good 15 minutes but nothing happened. We gave up and left not knowing why they were there.

Unfortunately one of the people from our tour was robbed. She was on her way to change some money so she had her Travellers cheques and passport on her at the time. She was walking with a friend down a busy street and felt someone open the zip of her purse. When she looked inside everything was gone. They went to the tourist police office but they were painting and told her to come back next day! So when we met for dinner that night no one was keen on La Paz anymore.