Going home certainly had its appeal. Continuing by bus had very little appeal. The hassle with luggage, the physical discomfort, the security risks, the irregularity and the inflexibility... I could go on and on.

The Auto Market is held twice a week in El Alto, 'The Heights', a suburb above La Paz. Mostly private owners and a few dealers bring their cars to this flea market or swap meet for car buyers. In shopping around I found that Baby Blue was actually much more valuable here than in the states. By almost three times!

In Tucson I paid about $2000 for Baby Blue, a 1985 Toyota four-wheel-drive pick-up. She would have easily fetched 5-6K here in Bolivia or Peru. I didn't think I wanted to spend that much on a replacement. I considered a few small Japanese sedans; they were not very exciting, but they were cheaper and they would have gotten me down the highway.

Then I came across a couple of Toyota Land Cruisers, all vintage around 1980 and in the neighborhood of three thousand dollars. That's when I started to get excited about driving again.

The excitement about a Land Cruiser was building but I was still mentally bogged down by legal, insurance, and resale issues. Would title and plates from Bolivia allow easy passage to other countries? Would there be duties or taxes leaving or entering other countries? Jorge had all the answers.

Jorge was selling the nicest of the Land Cruisers I had seen, at a very competitive price.

The stack of paperwork needed for the transaction was more than a quarter-inch thick, plus an insurance policy even thicker, all included in the quoted price. Each page was explained to me in detail, with respect to my desire to travel onward in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

Required Bolivian insurance was included, with a low cost rider available for international coverage. Jorge even offered to repurchase the vehicle from me at the end of my travels. I was impressed. 

La Paz is placed in a large bowl shaped canyon, high in the Andes. So high that it ranks as the worlds' highest national capitol. The steep hills and thin air are a bad combination for new visitors. A short flight of stairs left me winded and light headed. A typical four-course lunch will set you back less than a buck. Good European and Asian food restaurants abound. But what gets my attention are the local delicacies not found anywhere else. 

Perhaps the abundance of food makes up for the lack of oxygen. The food is fresh, plentiful and cheap. Fresh produce and juice vendors are everywhere.