After going to bed at 10pm last night, I was up bright and early at 7:30 this morning.

Even with an early wake up, I still took my sweet ass time getting out of the hostel today.

Truth is today was a completely open day and I could come and go whenever I wanted.

And what I wanted this morning was to just lie in bed and watch videos.

When 10:00 finally swung around I headed out to explore a different part of La Paz I had only seen from high above on the cable car the other day.

But first, breakfast…

Another big breakfast

Yup, it was back to The Carrot Tree for breakfast.

Today I got their Full Breakfast which is basically an English breakfast complete with eggs, sausage, bacon, tomato, mushrooms, beans, and gluten free toast.   The meal also included a latte and an oj.

For 56bs ($11), that’s a pretty good deal considering back home just the latte and oj would have cost more than that.

Now, having said that, it’s all relative.

Yes, $11 for a full meal like that is super cheap compared to prices back home but compared to prices here in Bolivia, well, $11 is alot for a meal.

Consider the fact I just got a full dinner at a street food stall last night for only $2.

So, yeah, it’s all relative.   Having said that, sometimes I want street food, sometimes I want a nice meal.

More on that later…

Help at Bolivia Hop

After breakfast I popped into the neighboring Bolivia Hop office to ask a couple of questions.

First, I wanted to find a place close by where I could exchange some of my US cash for more Bolivianos.

Since arriving in Bolivia I’ve rarely been able to use my credit card and have been going through my Bolivianos lightening quick so it was time to stock up again.

And wouldn’t you know it, turns out that Bolivia Hop has a currency exchange service.

Next, I wanted to ask about where the best place was to catch a taxi to get to the Chualluma neighborhood I wanted to visit.

And again, the woman working the desk came through for me.   She actually called a taxi for me and when it arrived she gave him instructions in Spanish for where I wanted to go.

Alrighty then!

Now, that was helpful.

Taxi through La Paz

At 11:45 I hopped into a taxi on my way to the colorful neighborhood of Chualluma.

While the cable car metro system is pretty amazing, it does have a downfall.

The stations are pretty far apart and the area I wanted to visit was in between two stations which, according to my map, meant a 40 minute walk from the station.

Uphill.

Nope, nope, nope.

Despite Google saying the driving time was only 9 minutes, it actually took close to a half hour to get there.

That’s what stop and go traffic through the downtown core will do.

I don’t know if I’ve touched on it already, but the way traffic flows both here in Bolivia and in Peru is insane.

There are very few traffic signals and even less stop signs.

It’s literally a free for all when it comes to merging and right and left turns.

Oh and pedestrians do not have the right of way.   Even in crosswalks.

As a pedestrian you have to play a little game of frogger each time you want to cross a street dodging cars as they come at you.

Anyway, like I said it took a while to get to Chualluma.   I don’t think our speed got over 15 km/h in the downtown core and even when we were clear of the traffic, the taxi didn’t go over 30 km/h because it was all uphill.

The colorful houses of Chualluma

I paid the taxi driver 40bs ($8) and hopped out of the car.

The neighborhood of Chualluma lay before me.

It’s known for it’s brightly painted houses and murals and, honestly, it just seemed like something cool to see.

The whole area is about 5 blocks by 5 blocks and it’s all housing, no businesses and no stores.

The place was completely deserted as well.   I came across a total a 4 locals the entire time I was there and not one single tourist.

After snapping a bunch of photos and just taking in the view of the city of La Paz down below, I headed back down to where I had been let off.

So, it turns out that Google Maps lied to me.   I know, shocker, right?

It had put the distance from the nearest cable car station to Chualluma at a 40 minute walk.

Turns out it was only 15 minutes.

Downhill!

By the time I got back to the hostel, I was exhausted.

Walking up hills in this higher altitude takes it’s toll on you, that’s for sure.

All good though because, as I said, this was an open day and I didn’t have anything else planned until the evening.

It was 1:30 and I bundled into my bed and dozed off as I watch videos.

After a brief impromptu nap I was up again at 4:00 and after a nice, hot shower, I was back out the door at 5:00.

Time for an amazing dinner…

More cable cars

But first I had to get to the restaurant.

The restaurant, Mi Chola, is one of the best rated restaurants in the city and it’s located in the southern part of the city in the artistic Sopocachi neighborhood.

My hostel is in the northern part of the city about 3.5km away.

Time to hop back on the cable cars.

Ironically, the 45 minutes I took by cable car was pretty much the same amount of time it would have taken me to walk there.

You see, the cable cars have another flaw to them too.

For some reason there’s no line that goes straight from the north through the main touristy area of the city and down to the south part of Sopocachi.

Instead you have to take the red line to El Alto in the west, then transfer to the grey line going south, before transferring yet again on to the yellow line heading east.

In total you actually travel almost 10km to do a 3.5km trip.

But at least it was relaxing and you could take in the views from above.

At just before 6:00, I had arrived in Sopocachi.

A little exploring

The restaurant is open for lunch and then reopens again at 7pm and I had made a reservation for that time.

I purposely arrived a full hour early because I wanted to spend a bit of time to just explore this new neighborhood.

First I wanted to make sure I knew where the restaurant was so I walk over to where I had it marked on my map and, shock of all shocks, it wasn’t where the map marker was.

I ended up looking up Google images to see a photo of what the front of the restaurant looked like and was able to find it around the corner in a lane from where the map marker was.

Alright, time to explore.

The plan was just to walk down a few streets and see what I saw.

I also had marked out a grocery store that had a gluten free area that I wanted to check out.

Well, turns out I had marked it at the wrong location on the map and it was about a 20 minute walk away.

Oh well.

But, wouldn’t you know it, I turned the corner and found another grocery store and, on a whim, I popped in to see if maybe, just maybe, they also had a gluten free area.

And.

They.

Did.

Gluten free cookies for the win!

After a bit more walking around, I circled back to the restaurant and headed inside just as the clock turned to 7:00.

10 courses!

Yup, you read that right!   10 courses!

Well, actually it’s an 8 course tasting menu they offer you but they gave me a little amuse bouche to start and then, for reasons unknown, my waiter gave me an extra entree course before dessert.

Anyway, the restaurant only has a tasting menu.   There is no ala carte menu at all and then menu changes every season so 4 times a year.

For 150bs ($30) you get 8 courses and for an additional 100bs ($20) you can do a wine pairing with each course.

I mean, c’mon, $30 for 8 courses?   That’s awesome!

I didn’t opt for the wine pairing and instead tried a couple cocktails, their version of a Moscow Mule and some creamy chocolatey orange cocktail called Caranavi Cream.

My waiter, Franco, was amazing.   He spoke both Spanish and English and described each dish as it came out.

I can only imagine how hard it is to memorize all the ingredients of so many dishes in both languages.

I never actually saw a menu at all and I’m not 100% sure on what some of the ingredients on my plates were but let’s just say the dinner was amazing.

This dishes were small enough where you weren’t bloated at the end of the meal.

Oh, and the smoked fish dish I had was probably the best fish I ever had.   It was followed by the “bonus” course of a tender Llama filet which just melted in my mouth.   Definitely my two favorite courses.

So, with all that said, you know the drill, here’s a bunch of captioned photos showed you what I had.

Enjoy…


La Mula


Caranavi Cream: Singani, Cafe Catuai, Cacao, OJ, Cinnamon, Egg Whites


1. Yuka spirals amuse bouche with green bean paste


2. Quail egg with red pepper and a shot of 12hr distilled coffee to cleanse


3. Potato soup on Quinoa


4. Chapacan cheese, avocado, sundried tomato, bean paste, beets, banana flour


5. Huarjata: Pig cheek and leg in a red paste sauce


6. Mushroom steak with parsley, basil, and yuka


7. Paiche: Smoked fish with a sweet potato puree (best fish I’ve ever had)


8. Free bonus course: Llama filet with a potato puree


9. Dessert #1: Crème Brûlée with Ice Cream


10. Desert #2: Cheesecake with Apple and Cinnamon

The dinner lasted 90 minutes and while tipping 5-10% in Bolivia is customary, I did my usual 20% cause, ya know, karma.

In total, with drinks and tip, I paid 290bs ($60) and left walking back to the cable cars with the biggest smile on my face.

That was amazing!

Whether it’s cheap street food or a gourmet multi course dinner, I’m all for the experience and this one made me happy beyond words.

By 9:45 I was back at hostel and because of that earlier nap, didn’t actually go to bed until 11:00.

No worries though cause, you know what?

I have very simple plans tomorrow too and they don’t involve me waking up early.

Not to say it won’t be an epic day, because it will…

Peru/Bolivia Trip 2024, Trip Journal, La Paz, Bolivia
Peru/Bolivia 2024
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