La Paz - The Peace.. Or something like that

The first 2 weeks of our backpacking trip through south- and central America haven't been off the the easiest start. It could have been a lot worse of course, so we have been pretty lucky in a way as well and we are really trying to stay positive and we are still extremely happy to be doing this trip. But due to altitude sickness not getting any better we haven't really been up to that much during the days. Just trying to rest and drink loads of mate.

Therefore we skipped the death road in La Paz and ended up walking up and down the very busy streets in the rain (it was raining constantly for all the three days we spent there), doing a little bit of shopping (which is when my precious iphone was pick-pocketed..) and also went up on the yellow and red cable car. They have many different cable cars with stunning views over this massive valley-city. It only costs 3 Bolivianos to go up one way, and most locals seem to use the cabel car to commute to work, while for us tourists is one of the main attractions in La Paz.

I found the biggest avocado I ever seen as well, one day when I saw an old lady on the side of the street selling it for 7 Bolivianos. What a bargain! Late that night we could make a bath of guacamole just from that one avocado.

There are also some vegetarian restaurants that pops up on the HappyCow app and we tried to find many of them, but failed. To be honest, I do not like La Paz at all, and wouldn't bother going there if you are not doing the Death Road. It's cold, wet, too crowded and it is VERY common that tourists gets robbed apparently. When we went to the police station after my phone accident, we did meet this group of really sweet and helpful Bolivian women (they made my day by the way. Isn't it great how friendly people can change your mood immediately?)  who could help us urge the police officers to actually help us with our situation instead of sitting there in the waiting room, confused and lost. Anyway, the last thing they said to us when we were gonna leave was "Welcome to Bolivia".

I guess alot of people have better experiences of La Paz than I do, but I mean, just trying to look for vegetarian restaurants is a hassle, since the traffic is absolutely manic and I felt as if I was gambling with my life every time I tried to cross the street. I don't know why it is called La Paz (Peace) as it is not peaceful at all.

The only places in La Paz I actually enjoyed was the only vegan restaurant in the city (which I unfortunately do not have any photos of, because yeah, you know, my phone is missing), you just have to trust me when I say that the food here was really yummy. It's called;

Reencuentro con la Naturaleza

and have very friendly staff and the food is very nutritious and healthy. The only serve the set meal, which changes every day. But every day you get salad, soup, two mains to choose between and tea. We went here almost every day it felt like and had mains like potatoes stuffed with soy meat, quinoa with sauteed veggies and creamy sauce, lentil stews and veggie tart. It was really cheap as well, only 18 Bolivianos for this lunch feast!

On our way back home from the police station it was almost as if someone wanted to cheer us up when we suddenly stumbled across Tomate Vegetarian Cafe, where they have loads of vegan options to choose between for a cheap price (three different kinds of burgers! lentil, quinoa and soy). We had a soy burger each for only 18 Bolivianos, with which you got fries and tofu and it was so lush that I think I was dancing on pink clouds for a bit. Not only that - they do vegan milkshakes! I had one with papaya and I also tried their soy milk hot chocolate.. bliss!