La Paz, Bolivia

After leaving Copacabana, our bus had to take a ferry across the channel that connects the northern and southern parts of Lake Titicaca. The ride was 4 hours total, but was broken up nicely by the crossing. 

Before decending into La Paz, the bus briefly stopped so we could snap a few pictures:

La Paz is a very busy, urban place. The streets are jammed with cars, taxis, and micros (mini-busses), and the sidewalks are a mixture of well dressed business people with combed hair, women selling fruit and bread, shoe shiners, and beggars. There are lots of tour agencies, camping stores, banks, money exchanges, and plazas in the area we stayed in. However, a long walk through less touristy areas gave us an excellent view into the average day of a middle class Bolivian living in La Paz. 

This is a picture of our guidebook, where we drew in our walking route for La Paz. Hopefully it's possible to enlarge it to actually see where the places we talk about below are located... If anybody cares haha. 

Average enough looking street to include.

Many traditionally dressed women wear top hats in Bolivia and Peru. 

The main church in Plaza de San Francisco. (Above)

Pigeons ruled Plaza Murillo (above), and there were many local people feeding the birds who were completely surrounded by and covered in them. We found the lack of bird poo fairly surprising. There must have been a nightly cleaning, as Plaza Murillo is directly in front of the Presidential Palace (below) and the Cathedral. 

View of the Sopocachi district from the bridge. (Bridge on map)(below)

Toward the end of our walk it started raining, and we happened upon a pool hall in the Sopocachi District where we took shelter for an hour or so:

When we got back I called up therm-a-rest on skype, emailed them this picture (below) of the mattress that failed the first time I used it, and they agreed to send me a new one to our airbnb host in Salvador, Brazil!  I'm really happy I will have a functioning air bed for Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile because those countries are far more expensive than Peru and Bolivia, and we plan to camp more often. Yay companies that treat customers well!

One funny thing I haven't mentioned yet is an experience we had at our hostel. Marcela researched before we arrived in La Paz and found the cheapest option possible ($6/p/n), and upon arriving we set out walking toward Plaza San Pedro, the nearest landmark. When we arrived, the owner said her only vacancy was a room on the top floor (stairs only, ker-wah) that had 3 twin beds. We really didn't feel like walking and looking for another hostel, so after viewing the room we accepted, to her surprise. We put our backpacks in the room and went out to explore the city before it got dark. When we returned, the key to the room turned and turned but didn't unlock the door. Eventually they ended up breaking the window to get in, which we found funny. The next day we had a guy there installing a new lock and window. We didn't mind though, as we were entertained, sheltered, and it didn't cost much. 

Our short stay in La Paz came to a conclusion at the bus station. It was pretty so I took a quick picture. 

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Oruro, Bolivia

Our journey to Oruro was uneventful, as was our general stay in Oruro. We only took one picture of a parade we happened to come across, but decided we would just lump Oruro, Bolivia onto the end of this post because there isn't much to tell. It was really just us breaking the journey to Uyuni into two sections, dealing with a hotel room that smelled like it had been recently fumigated, buying bus tickets, and playing cards in the plaza. Oh, and it was Marcela's birthday, so we went out for a nice dinner. 

We crafted a birthday cake out of a chocolate covered macaroon and a match. haha.

Next, the eventful journey to Uyuni, and the nearby salt flats.  

Copacabana, Bolivia

We originally booked a room at La Cupula hostel in Copacabana for 2 nights. We ended staying 6 nights. 

Our stay at La Cupula was very enjoyable and relaxing. It wouldn't  be a stretch to call it the highlight of the trip so far, with the exception Machu Picchu. 

The first day, we showed up in the rain, and were shown to our room by an exceptionally welcoming and well put together front desk guy. Our room had hardwood floors, a comfortable bed, a bunch of windows, a balcony, and a view of downtown Copacabana, the beach, and Lake Titicaca. 

We had previously called and changed our reservation from 2 nights to 3, but as soon as we saw the room and the rest of the hostel, we changed our reservation to 5 nights.  We have plenty of time, almost three weeks to get through Bolivia, and we saw no reason to rush to La Paz when we had such an amazing room here and now. Further, the hostel had ESPN and Fox Sports, so we were guaranteed to have a spot to watch the Superbowl. This put our stay through Feb 3, so we would be in Copacabana for "La Virgen de la Candelaria" festival, which was recommended in our guide book. 

View from the waterfront.

We spent our first two days in Copacabana walking around, shopping for food at the market, and researching the best deal for the tours to Isla del Sol. We decided on an agency that told us we would spend all day going to the northern and southern parts of Isla del Sol, as well as Isla de la Luna for only a bit more than only going to the southern end of Isla del Sol. On the third day, we woke up around 7am and walked down to the docks to board the boat. 

The boats looked a lot like the boats in Puno, but instead of having powerful inboard engines, they are all equipped with low-horsepower outboard Yamaha motors. This made them much slower than the boats in Puno, and they also gave off a strong smell of gas into the cabin. These two elements made for a long and headache-filled morning through otherwise beautiful scenery. Once the clouds burned off we went up to the roof, where the gas fumes couldn't get to us. :-) 

Frequently the mornings start out a little overcast, and then clear before noon:

Upon arriving at the northern part of Isla del Sol, we were greeted by a park guide who informed us of a per-person fee to get off the boat... This is when I started getting pissed off. The amount of money was only about $2 each, so we paid it, but the fact that we hadn't been informed of this beforehand really put me in a sour mood. I began plotting in Spanish how I would confront the woman who sold us the tour, and insist that we be reimbursed.

The northern part of the island was the most beautiful we visited. We quickly abandoned the guide and set off to see the view points seperate from the pack we arrived with. We even saw some ruins, though nothing we have seen since Machu Pichhu has been nearly as impressive:

At the remainder of the stops during the day, we were again greeted by someone asking us to pay a fee. At Isla de la Luna, we refused to pay and opted to sit on the beach and play cards. After about 20 minutes our boat-mates came back down with some food they had purchased, and we felt exceptionally smart for having avoided paying to have the option to buy food. It didn't sound like we missed much.

Then when we went to the southern part of Isla del Sol, we tried to show we had already paid at the northern part (the northern guide had told us to show our ticket so we wouldn't have to pay again), but this guy said no, pay again. At  this point I became enraged, and essentially told the guy we weren't paying and to go **** himself. We then skipped the last stop, which looked like a really cool ruin on a bluff above the lake, because some people needed to catch a bus... Once we arrived back in Copacabana we went straight to the woman who sold us the tickets and had a long argument about a full refund. We were eventually refunded about 1/3rd of the price, but not before I gave her the most awful looks I could while Marcela argued like a reasonable and sensible adult. I felt bad for letting these small fees ruin my day, but that stupid booking agent really should have informed us. (All fees were covered when we went to islands from Puno.)

The next morning, we had breakfast in the restaurant at La Cupula. It was fairly basic, but came with a banana smoothie, which made Marcela happy because it tasted like those from her childhood:

That afternoon, we hiked to the view point above Copacabana called "Cerro Calvario". It was a steep hike similar to the stone stairs at Machu Picchu, but it was worth it once we reached the top:

http://youtu.be/Dm5HrpPj-Tw

Up top, since it was the day leading up to the festival, everyone was drinking beers, spraying beer into the air, throwing firecrackers off the cliff, and gathering with friends and family. There were many people also burning incense and saying prayers, but interestingly even these people had beers which they were spraying everywhere. We learned a spray to the sky gives thanks to Mother Sky, while a spray toward the ground gives thanks to Mother Earth. The toy trucks and miniture apartment complexes that were for sale, when given as a gift, bring good luck and will supposedly enable that person to acquire the full size object within the coming year.

That night as we were making dinner in the beautiful blue/white greek-esk kitchen at La Cupula, we started hearing fireworks. We are used to hearing them go off from Cusco and from earlier in the week in Copacabana, but normally they are just explosion fireworks which have no colorful display. These however, were quite magnificent and expensive looking, so once we finished our meal, we ventured into the town to see what was going on: 

http://youtu.be/8ZFQf_DTzW0

A lot of the pictures I took during that night were blurry becuse it was raining heavily.

The next morning, the drinking and dancing continued. It seemed to us that they took a break between 4am and 6am, and then continued; and you could see it in the morning drunkeness of the majority of the festival participants.

Marcela next to that hours free beer for one group, we had to pay because we are tourists.

Later that day, we retreated to the comfort of the La Cupula common room, made some pizza, and watched the Seahawks destroy the Broncos in the Superbowl. It was a fabulous romping, and I was so happy to be able to watch. I was more than a little homesick though.

Slowly, a fairly large group of Americans congregated to watch the game, drawn by our loud yelling!

The next day we had planned to take a bus to La Paz, but I woke up sick. I wasn't hung over, the cheese from the pizza didn't mesh well with my digestive system... We decided to stay for a 6th night, which turned out to be great because we met the owner of La Cupula, fed his llamas, and witnessed the best sunset ever!!!

The following morning, we went to La Paz. 

I burn easily! 

Cheers to you all and to Copacabana! We had a great time, and recommend it to anyone coming through. La Cupula was great also!

Puno, Peru

Our time in Puno was enjoyable. Puno itself is a dirty place, but its proximity to Lake Titicaca bumps it up from downright gross. We took an overnight bus from Cusco and arrived at about 6am. The owner of the hostel where we stayed at in Cusco, Harry, arranged for us to stay in a decent hotel for a fraction of the advertised price. He also arranged for someone to meet us at the bus station and give us a ride to the hotel. The person who was supposed to meet us was a bit late, but eventually we made it to our room. After resting up for a few hours, we walked up to the main plaza in town, got an idea of where we were, and then walked down to the waterfront where day tours are sold for various island visits. We figured that going directly to the ticket vendors would result in the best deal. 

Lighthouse near dock.

We ended up buying tickets to visit the Uros people who live on small floating islands they build out of reeds and rope. The boat ride out was slow and pleasant, and we saw a lot of cool birds along the way. I especially liked one that was mostly black with a bright red spot on its forehead/beak.

*** Disclaimer: I found this picture on Google, but this is exactly how it looked when I saw it. Problem is I can't find a better picture and I don't know exactly what bird this is.. This is all "Black duck red beak spot titicaca" turned up: bird people, if you can figure this one out let me know! ***

The Uros people build their islands on a foundation made of the root balls of reeds. During certain times of the year apparently the root balls float to the surface and are collected, bound together with rope, and covered in many layers of reeds. Each island houses ~3 families, and each has its own president. The president of the island we visited explained that if two families don't like each other and cannot resolve their differences, they simply get out a large saw, cut the island in half, and anchor their new islands elsewhere. 

You can see the layers of reeds that have built up. About twice a month a new layer gets distributed across the surface of the "Islands".

http://youtu.be/ggHT6TjqnhM  <-- haha she thought I was taking her picture. 

That night we discovered an awesome restaurant that offered quality food at a cheaper than tourist-normal price, and they had pool tables! The food was so well presented and delicious that we went back the following night. We sat at the same table and essentially repeated our order: Alpaca loin, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, appetizer, desert, and an alcoholic drink: $5.00. We split it all of course, as we have every meal on the trip so far. Our small stomachs have helped us save money eating out.

Our second day in Puno was mostly spent on a boat slowly cruising across Lago Titicaca. We first stopped to see the Uros again, because we didn't realize the tours to the further out islands also included this stop. Before too long we were back on the boat and headed toward Isla Tequile. 

Note: supplies for house building on roof if boat.

http://youtu.be/1eg2zi9Eplg

It took three hours each way to and from Isla Tequile, but it was well worth it. The view from the boat was superb, and the island was the least touristy of the islands available to visit. We saw the people who live on the island building houses and farming, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch of trout, rice, bread, and quinoa soup. We were only able to spend about 90 minutes on the island before we had to head back, but we had enough time to look around, eat, and take some great pictures.

The following morning we woke up early, caught our bus to Copacabana, and crossed the border into Bolivia. Another stamp in the passport, $135.00 cash gone (each), and nobody even bothered to check our yellow fever vaccines or bank statements that we went to the trouble of getting emailed to us and printed. Thank you Jason. 

We made it safely into Bolivia, and arrived in Copacabana in a torrential downpour.