We pedaled our way through Bolivia into its beautiful capital city of La Paz. Our first view of the city was absolutely spectacular. We came in via “El Alto,” which is the high plain and expanding settlement of the city. But La Paz itself is tucked into an enormous valley, with houses and buildings spilling all the way down its sides.
Our first view of La Paz from the top. It's a cloudy day, so you can't much see the fantastic snow-capped peaks that loom over the city... but they're there, I promise!
We had heard from another cyclist in Patagonia that there was a “Casa de las Ciclistas” here, and thus we found Raul and Linda Zarate through warmshowers.org. From the moment we met them, it was like we were a part of their family. They shared more than just a spare bedroom and a warm shower, they shared their very lives with us.
We had only planned on staying in La Paz for about two days, but we ended up staying for four! As we were eating breakfast together the first morning, Raul began to lay out the plans for Sunday, which included a morning bike ride to meet up with his cycling group, followed by a farewell barbecue at their home for an English friend of theirs who had been doing volunteer work in La Paz. Well, that was too much… there was no way we could leave and miss out on a perfect day like that.
While staying at Linda and Raul’s, we also met Elvis, a fellow northbound cyclist who is from Tanzania. He is also on a two-year journey, and is pretty sure that he’s the first black African to ride his bicycle around the world. How great is that? He’s raising money for scholarships for Tanzanian students and environmental awareness projects. (You can check him out online at chiletokili.com.)
Getting ready to leave La Paz! We're pictured here with Linda & Raul & Elvis. What a great crew!
Our time in La Paz included very few “touristy” outings, but it was one of our favorite stops so far. We believe that travel is less about the things we see and more about the people we meet. We were literally blown away by the generosity and hospitality of Linda and Raul. We were reminded of the scripture in Matthew 25 where Jesus talks about the sheep and the goats. He says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…” That was exactly what Linda and Raul did for us… and as Jesus says, whatever we do for the least of these, it’s like doing it for Him.
For all our fellow travelers who are following our blog, we know you can relate to our gratitude for such hospitality. And for those of you following us from back at home, we would challenge you to show such grace, even to those who might be total strangers! What a tremendous opportunity to show the love of Christ! Why not sign up on warmshowers.org or couchsurfing.com? (Of course we have an obvious bias for warmshowers, as it is specifically for touring cyclists!) Not only does it help some road-weary traveler, it will most likely be loads of fun for you as well!
