Day one - The adventure begins

Our adventure started well at the Heathrow lounge thanks to Katie's Barclays account. Stomachs full, we ran to our gate realising that despite it being 45 minutes until our flight was due to leave, the screens said boarding closing. We wish we hadn't eaten so many cakes! 

After more than 23 hours of journeying, we landed in La Paz (population 1.5 million) It was 6am and the sun was rising above the city of El Alto, a rapidly developing city on the outskirts of La Paz city at 4000m above sea level with around 1.5 million inhabitants. We took a taxi to our hotel and we got an insight into the Bolivian way of travelling. They change routes without warning and beep. A lot! We were surprised by the weight of traffic into La Paz and the number of people hailing down taxis which in England would be considered family people carriers. Upon arriving at our hotel, we were informed we could not check in until 1pm so we took a stroll around La Paz. At 3600m above sea level, it was cold. We realised why the ladies wore particular outfits. 

We took a cable car which journey from El Alto across to the other side of La Paz. Rosemary, you would not have liked it!! We saw amazing views and saw how far La Paz sprawled. The city is very much under construction and many houses are unfinished due to the taxes due upon completion. 

The roads are precarious and you never know when to cross the road as traffic comes from all directions! There are many stalls selling Bolivian souvenirs, fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers and even dried baby llamas at the witches market which are used as sacrifices to Mother Earth. 

Lunch was had at a very much local restaurant on the corner of a square where we soaked up the atmosphere as the sun set. 

In the evening, we met with our Gadventures leader and group before retiring to bed having eaten a banana. (Rock and roll!). Unfortunately, our first nights accommodation on our honeymoon was two single beds with no windows and a very noisy extractor fan! Despite this, we got a very good nights sleep ready for the tour to begin the next day.