Religion has a strong hold on the people of Bolivia. One not affiliated with the church is looked upon with suspicion and becomes a social outcast. In no other country are the churches better attended.
The most attractive of the thoroughfares in the Bolivian capital is the Alameda, a wide avenue lined with trees, and having in its center a promenade. It is on this thoroughfare that the various legation buildings are situated. As usual, one may walk along this street and seek for the most unattractive building and be quite sure that it is the American legation building. Almost every government is here represented, so that the Alameda might be said to be the center of diplomatic life.
Where the foreign Legation buildings are]
[Illustration: CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO, LA PAZ]
La Paz is surprisingly modern in the architecture of its business structures. Most of the buildings are of brick, plastered over and painted. Many of its shops would be a credit to an American city. They are by no means mere country stores, but carry an astonishingly good class of merchandise, and many of the products of France and the United States are displayed for sale in the various shop windows. To leave the capital city, one must ascend by electric railway to the plateau, where is situated the railway depot. One may go directly south by rail all the way to Antofagasta, Chile, where steamer connections are made for Valparaiso. On this journey, one obtains a wonderful view of the back-bone of the Andes, traveling along a plateau averaging in height about 14,000 feet above sea level. The snow-clad summits of this mighty range of mountains are constantly in sight. There are few cities along the railway. Perhaps the most important of the Bolivian towns is Oruro, which is in the center of a very rich salt country, and as the railroad approaches the Chilean boundary there are rich deposits of borax and nitrate.
[Illustration: LOOKING DOWN THE ALAMEDA, LA PAZ]
Many travelers experience all the terrors of soroche or mountain sickness when traveling on the high Bolivian plateau. The altitude is dangerous for some people, and in a few cases results fatally. One whose heart is weak should not attempt the journey, as it is trying even upon the strongest constitution, and such evidences of altitude as nose-bleed and dizzy spells afflict even those who are accustomed to high altitudes.