La Paz

La Paz is not the capital of Bolivia but it is the home of the President and the Parliament. It is about a 1000ft below the Alto Plano, the high plains that we traveled over on the way to Puno. Still, altitude continues to be an issue as it sits at around 12,000ft. We still find ourselves panting just having a shower let alone going up a flight of stairs or a steep street of which there are many! Headaches, sleeplessness and loss of appetite are also effects of altitude so we've been eating small meals and taking Panadol on occasion. La Paz has the highest football field in the world and other South American countries are trying to have it omitted from the grounds where the international games are played - so far without success.
La Paz is a city of around 1 million but has a satellite city, El Alto, on its outskirts with another million mostly poor or unemployed.
Today we were driven around the city to see some of its sights. Moon Valley is an area just to the south where the weathered clay that surrounds the city has been preserved in a landscape that gives it its name.
Like most South American Cities the Catholic Church has had a large impact through the Spanish Conquistadors - not always positive. There are many churches and monasteries scattered around the city. Unfortunately their efforts to "introduce the Catholic religion" has failed to turn the people from Pagan practices to faith in Jesus Christ. Stalls in one part of the city near our hotel sell items to be used in pagan ceremonies. These include services to bless the foundations of a building using animal carcasses, including mummified foetuses of Alpacas!
Other miniature items are bought on January 24th, as we saw in Copacabana in the hope that the item being bought will turn out to be theirs in reality. These items are then blessed by a Shaman as well as by a Catholic Priest - so they get to have it both ways!