La Paz Warnings and Dangers

This is something they have been trying to weed out for years, but with varying levels of success.

I was parked on the street while at a mercado, and I came back to see that I was parked illegally. I saw the cop before he saw me, and he was obviously stalling to wait for the gringo to return. As soon as he saw me, he started to remove my tags. I asked him in Spanish what he was doing, and he told me that I would get the tags back in three days when I paid the ticket. I told him that this was not acceptable, that I needed the car or I wouldn't have rented it. I asked him whether I could pay right now, say, 100 pesos, to settle the fine right now. He hemmed and hawed and then I said that was all I had. That's true, I only had that much in my wallet. The rest of my cash was in my sock.

I walked back to my wife who speaks no Spanish, and told her proudly that I just conducted my first bribe, and in another language at that.

Lesson: Don't keep much in your wallet. Keep most of your cash elsewhere. It helps in negotiating.