Day 1 in La Paz

Written By: Carwyn John, Huw Riley & Oscar Helliwell

At the first briefing of the expedition whilst we were all siting down, Oscar starts chatting with the hotel’s local electrician, Freddy. Next thing we know Huw, Oscar, Freddy and myself were in a local taxi bus on our way to the La Paz central cable car station. Freddy did all the talking for us, making buying tickets incredibly easy. Considering he didn’t speak English it was surprisingly easy to communicate with Freddy with the occasional need for Google translate.

On the cable car the view was incredible; rising up over La Paz the whole city was visible along with some gargantuan mountains that had previously been hidden from view. The cable car took us to El Alto, the city next to La Paz, passing over a rainbow coloured block of houses. At the top Freddy showed us around the side of the station to a view point with a Hollywood style El Alto sign where we took a few photos before taking the next cable car down.

Once back at central station Freddy took us on a walking tour back to hostel via local markets most of which were staked with Red Label Johnny Walker - a proper reminder of home.

Brilliant start to the expedition.