Arriving by plane in La Paz is already in itself an experience. After a dive into the El Alto airport at 4,400 metres, you wait for your luggage in a hall with oxygen tanks along the wall. For some passengers this is really not some weird interior decoration... Upon leaving the airport, you sharply descend into the city, still at 4,000 metres though. The air is thin, and instead of oxygen tanks, you receive a 'mate de coca' upon arrival in your hotel, a tea drawn from coca leaves. For those in need, it helps against 'la puna', altitude sickness. Easy, easy, take it easy at first, no major physical effort right away, even if the city calls and your eagerness to discover pushes. La Paz calls indeed, and rightly so, for it is undoubtedly the most authentic capital of South America. Like in all Bolivia, its population is largely indigenous, its traditions are genuine and colourful, its cultural expression an inventive syncretic mixture of ancient beliefs and habits with the influences of Spanish colonial and Catholic rule. The immediate surroundings of La Paz offer some mindblowing landscapes of mountains and rock formations, either in aof bone dry desert or on snow-capped Andean summits. Apart from that, La Paz is also the gateway to the southern shores of Lake Titicaca and to the magnificent archaeological site of Tiwanaku, shedding a fascinating light on South America's pre-Inca civilisation. Bolivia is very diverse in nature and culture, La Paz brings most of it together and is yours to discover.