LAKE TITICACA: Between Bolivia and Peru, Where Time Is Standing Still

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Welcome (back) to my page dear friends, strangers, travellers and other kinds of human beings. I must admit that I was left quite surprised by your enthusiastic comments in regards to my previous blogpost where I discussed 10 of La Paz` most curious quirks and perks. For someone who is inclined to criticise her own writing relentlessly, reading your encouraging words truly means a great deal to me, so thanks for that.

Well. By the time you read this piece I`ll have long crossed the border that separates Bolivia from Peru. On board of a tiny, white ferry I`ll have glided across the azure waves of Lake Titicaca - South America`s largest freshwater lake and the world`s highest navigable waterbody situated at an altitude of 3800m above sea level. I`ll have maundered along its shores that are home to crumbling ruins of pre-Incan civilisations and I`ll have climbed the surrounding Andean peaks and soft, rolling hills marked by farmland, fields and vast, desolate stretches of rocky altiplano. 

LA PAZ: 10 Curiosities Only Bolivia`s Second Capital Could Pull Off

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Welcome to La Paz, a swirling carnival of colours and cultures, pedestrians and honking cars, native rituals and Western architecture, street markets, food stands and more official languages than you can count. Inimitable in its mixture of modern capitalism and ancient indigenous traditions, Bolivia`s second capital city surely is a metropolis unlike any other. Impossible to ignore, each and every street pulses with the memory of its tumultuous - if not violent - history. La Paz is there, and it`s very much in your face, so here are my top picks of its quirks and twists that are not only unapologetically Latin America, but also quintessentially Bolivian: