Like most big cities in Latin America (and around the world), you have to be very wary of pickpockets and purse-snatchers when walking around Bolivia’s capital city of La Paz, especially in the busy tourist zone. Besides the usual precautions, make yourself inconspicuous as possible – don’t be flaunting fancy jewelry, gold chains, expensive rolex watches and make an effort to conceal your valuables.

By all means leave your passport in your safe deposit box at the hotel (just carry a paper copy) and be extra vigilant when walking in a very congested area or when standing in a crowd while watching street musicians or artists.

Pickpockets and purse-snatchers target mostly tourists, but I have heard where locals (especially ladies) have also fallen victim to purse-snatchers as well. These thieves usually work in pairs or in small teams and have devised a number of clever ruses and strategies to their craft.

During my many years as a traveler, street thieves have never victimized me, but I guess there is always a first time – and my first time happened in La Paz. Here’s what happened…

I was filming some street musicians with my small videocam in the heart of the tourist zone and a small crowd started to gather around. All of a sudden, somebody bumped me and I momentarily lost my balance. At the time, I had a camera bag draped around my left shoulder – inside the bag was my Olympus 570UZ digital point & shoot camera, valued at about $380USD (new).

While I was distracted by the bump, a 2nd person - a young girl - quickly unzipped the bag (maybe I had forgotten to zip it up), reached inside and snatched my camera. A man in the crowd happened to see the robbery take place, and told me that he saw the young girl and her accomplice quickly flee the scene. No doubt, the two culprits were professionals at their craft.

Oh well, shit happens. I did not let this mishap spoil my trip. Fortunately, I carried a 2nd digital camera with me to South America as a backup.

Believe me, La Paz is a lot safer than most cities that I have been to. From what I understand, pickpockets and thieves in La Paz achieve their objectives mostly by stealth and guile without utilizing weapons or resorting to force. On the other hand in Rio de Janeiro, many tourists are held up at knifepoint.

Bottom Line – While robberies and theft can happen in La Paz, I believe it is one of the safer cities in Latin America

Tags: Avoiding pickpockets in La Paz, Petty Theft in Bolivia, Petty Theft in la Paz, Street crime in La Paz

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 1:02 am and is filed under Bolivia, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.