July 16 – La Paz Local Holiday

nPostednon July 16, 2013

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nTodaynthere will be processions (parades) and dance competitions innBolivia’s largest city, La Paz.
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nInwas surprised to learn that La Paz (which means peace)nisn’t the official capital city of Bolivia. Instead, a city namednSucre (which means sugarnin French) is the official capital – but most of the government’snbuildings and functions are located in La Paz! La Paz is considerednthe “de facto” capital, which means that it really acts as thencapital, even thought another city is “supposed to be” thencapital!

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nKeepingnthe “de facto” in mind, La Paz is the highest capital city in thenworld! It is from 10,500 to 13,500 feet above sea level. The reasonnI’m telling you the range of altitude instead of just one numbern(such as my hometown being 720 feet above sea level) is that La Pazncrawls up and down hills!

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nTheninternational airport is also the world’s highest. It is almost halfnas high as a jet plane’s cruising altitude! Surprising to me is thenfact that the runways at this airport have to be longer than those ofnother airports—because the air is thinner!

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nPeoplenwho fly to La Paz are warned not to hurry through the airport tonimmigration, to beat the lines. As I said, the air is thinner.nVisitors need to walk sl-o-o-o-w-ly to immigration! Altitude sicknessnis a very real complaint that means that your cells are not gettingnas much oxygen as they need. But don’t worry, if you don’t try tonmove too quickly too soon, your body will start making more red bloodncells to carry oxygen—and after a day or two of rest, you willnbecome acclimatized.

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nChecknout this extreme-downhill view of La Paz and this quick overview of the nation of Bolivia.

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nAlsonon this date:

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