Spending the week in La Paz, Mexico

So after a little scheduling hiccup, I'll be spending this whole week in La Paz instead of working. That's alright with me, I'll get to spend some time exploring around and seeing what's going on here. I did get to spend some time walking around the last day or so, and have come to the conclusion that I need a bike. I'm not too sure how to get one, but that's next on my list. I did look for a bike shop and couldn't find anything, but I hear that there's a Wal Mart here, so maybe I'll go pick one up there. I should be able to keep it on the boat and use it in the future, so it wouldn't be a bad investment.

One thing that seems kind of crazy is that the hotel that I usually stay at when I come down here, Los Arcos, was closed due to a strike the last time I was here, and it still is now. I couldn't imagine a strike closing a hotel in the US for that long. It doesn't really make sense to me. Another interesting thing going on is that the police are in the street intersections talking to all the people that drive by. At first I thought that it was a fund raiser, like the fire fighters do with the boot for charity back home, but then I realized that they are upset because they were given the day off, so they are trying to raise money for themselves. I'm not quite sure I understand the situation, I need to research it a bit more. Seems strange to me.

While talking about Police, there are so many cops here! They are everywhere, with all kinds of different names. There are local police and about 5 different levels of federal police as well as troop carriers full of Army troops driving around with full gear and M-16's. I was sitting on a corner taking a rest, getting a drink, and I watched a city cop pull over 10 cars in a matter of 20 minutes. It was crazy. I'm not quite sure of the circumstances, but this has been enough to make me not want to drive down here, like I have been wanting to do for some time now. Either way, I'll be very careful when I finally do it, but I am going to have to adapt a little more before I would feel comfortable.