They have a festival for everything!

The journey from Lake Titicaca to the capital city of Bolivia, La Pas, was...eventful. It included this crazy-ass ferry system:

                           

and a bus breakdown right outside the city limits, fully equipped with a bus driver who ran away. (No joke, he took off down the side of the road and just kept runnin'. At first we figured he had to go potty and was doing us a kindness by moving away to take care of business. But then he just kept going until we couldn't make him out anymore. I sure hope he got to wherever he was headed.)

With the temperature dropping rapidly, no bus driver, and the continuous false assurance that another vehicle was on its way to fetch us (we were promised it was "only 10 minutes away" over the course of 3 hours), we decided to hop into a cab with other travelers and be on our way. And success! We made it! ...Almost. Upon arrival at La Alta, the urban sprawl of La Pas that geographically surrounds the capital several hundred feet above it (imagine an upside down bowler hat with La Pas in the bowl of the hat and La Alta on the rim. But the rim is very large.), we were waylaid by an occurrence that is quite common in Bolivia: a festival. It turns out that festivals and protests happen frequently and, of course, necessitate the day off from work and road blockades. After several minutes of zero movement (besides opening the door so his daughter could stick her butt out of the van to pee), the driver pulled over and said he was done. Our best chance of getting to La Pas: hike down the side of the bowler hat. Doing so afforded us breathtaking views of the city (but maybe that was just the elevation...):

Hi, La Paz!

(La Paz Pictures start in: 136_0715)