In the southwest area of Bolivia lies area called Lipez. It is home to arid deserts, salt plains and a wealth of mineral deposits.When one of the largest, and maybe the largest ever found, silver mines was discovered just above a small town called San Cristobal and the concession was purchased by the Canadian mining consortium Apex Silver the problem arose - what should we do with the town below?

This little museum is hidden away up an alley off Calle Linares aka ‘Gringo Street’ due to all the travel agencies and clothing or crafts shops. 
Whilst tiny in size it is bursting with information about the little green leaf that has been held sacred in the Andes for centuries. The displays themselve look a little worn and the whole setup can seem a little amateur, but if your patient enough to follow the self guided tour whilst reading the provided infomation in your own language (available in many languages) you will no doubt learn plenty of facts you didnt know about the coca plant.

Salteñas are available everywhere in Bolivia and , though originally from Argentina, are one of the most typical Bolivian foods. Each day you will see people queueing at their favourite Salteña stands to buy them. At only 1 or 2 bolivianos each they are a cheap and tasty option for breakfast or mid morning snack - in fact any time of the day..

One of the things that sticks in the mind of most visitors to La Paz is the traditional dress of many of the local women - a bowler hat worn slanted on the head and a long decorative skirt called a pollera or often 2,3 or more of them! These distinctive looking residents of the capital city are known as cholas or cholitas and have been wearing this traditional dress for many years.

The witches market or ‘mercado de las brujas’ in La Paz is surely on every tourist’s must see list when visiting the capital. On Calle Linares, just off Calle Sagarnaga (aka Gringo Street), it seems more touristy than mystical nowadays as the artesian stores make up the majority of the area. At the Calle Santa Cruz end of Linares however there are still a few genuine stalls selling all sorts of weird and wonderful, well wonderfully disgusting, things. Dried Llama fetuses, dried toads...

Fans of the football team "La Paz FC" took it upon themselves to "kidnapp" their team as an act of protest when it was annouced that the team would start to play their matchs in a different stadium.The team is actually from the city of El Alto , which is situated above La Paz City itself and is considered a city in its own right.

In many typical bolivian eateries you will see a bowl of red (sometimes green) sauce on the table served along side the other condiments.This is the spicey sauce known as "Llajua" (or llajwa).  If there is not a bowl on the table then you will probably be able to request some as they will probably most likely have some ready made in the kitchen. In Bolivia Llajua is as common as ketchup in the many western countries and is used to add to kick to soups and main courses by many people.

Travellers to Bolivia that witness one of the large street protests are sometimes, unsurprisingly,  shocked and always intrigued if they seeminers letting off dynamite in the streets as part of the protest.  The miners are a strong political force in Bolivia and they will usually be involved in any large scale protest, descending on La Paz in groups numbering tens of thousands to march through the streets to make their collective voice heard.  Along the way they will detonate small amounts of dynamite in the open streets which explode with a thunderess bang that vibrates through the buildings all around.It is very rare anyone is hurt during this noisy display as the miners are well versed in keeping people away and only use small amounts but to the uninitiated it can be quite alarming.

Shangra La is  Japonese style restaurant in the mega center in la Paz. Aiming at more upscale customer than the food court below and also providing the food service to the VIP cinema service.Read our review for more details on the food

Driving in La Paz is not for the faint hearted. If there are traffic rules then seemingly nobody knows what they are. If a car leaves a couple of inches between itself and another then most likely a bus of taxi will try to enter that space. If they do actually use their indicator lights at all it will most likely be after they have already maneuvered. Amongst this chaos wonders the pedestrian and many from La Paz seem to have developed a suicidal bravery for crossing the roads, walking out in front of mini buses in the hope the drivers highly tuned reactions will serve him well to avoid hitting them. As some drivers are often not so highly tuned or some pedestrians a little too over confident this results in many accidents.

Bolivia is an incredible country for photographers as it has an amazing variety of scenery and a diverse and rich culture. From lush Amazon jungle scenery full of wildlife to the white barren landscapes of the Salar de Uyuni Salt flat, colonial architecture and colourful traditional costumes – a visit to Bolivia will keep any keen photographer occupied with an endless choice of subjects .

Alasitas, athough celebrated in many places in Bolivia it is certainly best witnessed in La Paz. It is the first major festival of the year in Bolivia (there always seems to be some festival or other) and is probably the quaintest of them all. It is a festival/fair in celebration of Ekeko the god of abundance who is often represented as a Super Mario look alike that seems like he has just looted Walmart. Makeshift stalls selling miniturised versions of just about anything you can imagine spring up all over the city on January 24th and from around midday the buying begins.

La Paz is the de facto capital of Bolivia, being the center of administrative activity. The city is host to about a million people according to the 2001 census.

La Paz has also been a hub of sports activity over the years. Various sports clubs are actively involved in promotion of their favorite pastime. But like all Bolivians, it is football which really fires the imagination of the population.

La Paz is host to a number of club sides, some of which have been at the top of the Bolivian pyramid for a long time.La Paz also has its own regional league below the top tier from which sides can gain promotion to play against the top dogs if they can come through against the teams from the other 9 departments (into which Bolivian teams are tradiionally separated into) in the annual Copa Simon Bolivar, named after the founder of the modern nation. The regional league is further subdivided into 2nd, 3rd and 4th levels, providing a good depth to the whole structure.

Everyone who finishes the super hot "Worlds Most Dangerous Vindaloo" gets a free t
shirt to prove it!

Backpackers traveling through South America, especially British backpackers, will notice there is a lack of Indian food establishments available along the well trodden gringo trial. Quito has a good selection but for some reason there are not too many places that can offer a good curry. La Paz offers a welcome relief for curry addicts though with the British owned "Star of India" curry house.

Located in a conveniently central area (close to Oliver’s travels English pub and Sol y Luna Dutch lounge bar) it is popular with travelers for a spicy evening meal. The meals on offer include the classic dishes you would expect to find such as onion bahjis, samosas, for starters and kormas, madras and vindaloos as mains.

In the last year or so there has been many news reports on the potential for Bolivia to profit from its vast lithium carbonate  reserves (search google for Bolivia + lithium and you will find hundreds of articles). Lithium has been touted as the “new oil” as it is only available in limited amounts in certain parts of the world and is a vital component in a number of popular products used today and also for products of the future. Mobile phones, PDAs and laptops all use batteries made with lithium and, perhaps the most crucial factor for the future,  the car industry is moving towards a greener future with  electric cars that use lithium or lithium hybrid batteries. This will increase demand immensely and with Bolivia having around 50% (5.4 million tones) of the worlds Lithium deposits it could offer the poorest nation in South America a chance to increases its revenues dramatically. The deposits are located in the Salt flats of Uyuni which is a principle tourist attraction in the country.