Hello from La Paz, Bolivia

We are now in La Paz, Bolivia. The world's highest seat of government at around 12,500 ft. above sea level. The full name of the city is "La Ciudad de Nuestra Señora de La Paz" ("The City of Our Lady of the Peace"). It actually sits in a canyon surrounded by towering snow-capped mountain peaks. El Alto is another city adjacent to La Paz that sits at about 14,000 ft. on the canyon rim. That is also where the airport is located. Planes must land at about twice the speed that they would land if at sea level. So we heard that the decent and landing at this high international airport is quite harrowing. The distance required for takeoffs is much greater as well because of the thinner air.The transit tour from Puno to La Paz yesterday was spectacular. We were picked up by bus at our hotel in Puno around 6:30 am, then drove a couple of hours to the Peru/Bolivia border crossing and walked across the border. Next, we stopped at Copacabana, Bolivia, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. After looking around the cathedral and the main plaza a bit, we boarded a catamaran for a cruise and transit across the lake. El Lago de Titicaca is the world's highest navegable freshwater lake. Most estimates say that the deepest point is about 450 meters, although some believe that there is no bottom to the lake. Much myth and legend surrounds the area. The Incas believe that this was where the world began, the center of the universe, and the first Inca rulers emerged from the waters (Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo). The catamaran stopped at the Isla del Sol (Sun Island), which is the most sacred island on the lake. We toured a garden, saw some llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas, went through a museum of Inca culture around the lake, and participated in a spiritual ceremony of offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth). It was all quite interesting. Then had a buffet lunch back on the catamaran as we sailed further towards another shore where we would then get on another bus bound for La Paz.We are staying at Hotel Rosario - in an old colonial home. Today we went on a city tour of La Paz. Saw the plaza and main cathedral, and learned that in late 2003 there was a deadly shootout in that very plaza between the police and the army, right there in front of the government buildings and the cathedral. We also saw the Valley of the Moon with its interesting geologic erosional formations. Additionally we saw the upscale part of town where many diplomats, ambassadors, government officials, narcotraficantes, and others live. The culmination was a high point in the middle of the city where we had a 360 degree view of La Paz and the surrounding canyon and snow-capped peaks.