Valley of the Moon

Aside from the Witch’s Market, we had two big things on our list to do here in La Paz. We decided to combine the two in a bit of an adventure! Valley of the Moon is a unique landscape and small hiking area outside of the city that we wanted to see. It was quite a long way to get there, but the aerial cable car system in La Paz would get us at least part of the way there. It was there that I had taken notes from fellow travelers about exactly how to get there, but we were still a bit anxious and prepared to get a taxi or call an Uber.

Amazingly, the cable car stations are difficult to find. One would think that it would be easy to spot where these above ground “cars” are coming and going from, but amongst the tall buildings, they’ve done a great job of somehow making them blend in. Much like subway lines, these lines are color coded and often meet up with other lines. We got on the sky blue line, headed to the green line with no specific details after that. 

The little cable car could comfortably fit about eight, but they are expensive for the locals, so they are rarely full. We got on with an older gentleman who could not have been happier to try to converse with us in our very little Spanish. He was wonderful, cheerful and welcoming and we were thankful for his company.

A few stops later, a younger man with headphones on joined our car. The older man asked him if he spoke English. He took off his headphones and said, “yes, very well, how can I help?” We didn’t realize then how lucky we were to have found Andy. He asked where we were from, and when learning Jess was from Denver, he said, “Oh, it is 5,280 feet high there.” He said he was an NBA fan and saw that on the court each game. Andy’s mother worked in Bolivia at the US Embassy for years, and now he was working there as an executive assistant. He had also taught a summer camp for special needs kids in upstate New York.

He helped us transfer lines, then took us off at his stop where he walked us downhill a bit through the neighborhood he was proud to call home, pointing things out along the way and being a wonderful tour guide. He left us at the bus station with specific directions on what to do. Without him, we might have made it to the Valley of the Moon, but not by bus!

First, let me say, when I say bus station, I mean the corner where all the buses drive by. Second, when I say bus, I mean like a small 15-passenger van that operates as a bus with signs on the front saying where it is headed. 

We spotted the minibus we were looking for, and when we got in, confirmed that with the driver. He knew we were tourists and asked, “Valle de La Luna?” We rode in the minibus about twenty minutes up hill making frequent stops. At every stop, when someone entered, they greeted the passengers and the driver. The driver, rather than taking us to the town close to our destination dropped us off right at the entry way. Truly, the people of Bolivia could not be kinder!

Valley of the Moon is a unique landscape, almost reminiscent of southern Utah. It appears that years ago, this was all part of Lake Titicaca and what is left behind is clay formations from the waters. It looked much like the drip castles my father used to expertly create on our beach trips. It was a short walk through them, but worth the adventure getting back.

We paid a taxi to get us to the end of the green line so we could ride the cable car even further, enjoying peaceful, glorious views of the city below and the mountains surrounding it. Just FYI, for the two of us to ride the cable car for 30-45 minutes, it was the equivalent of $1.25.