Lake Titcaca, Copacabana and Isla del Sol

The relatively short journey of around 4 hours from La Paz to Copacabana including a short boat trip across lake Titicaca was quite an exhilirating one! Rising up high in the Andes, from a distance you could see the Bolivian cordillera, the chain oh high snow capped mountains

and then not long afterwards, you could begin to see the lake for the first time. Now to say this is a big lake is soewhat of an understatement, it is absolutely huge and looks like an ocean amongst land. Such a beautiful sight!

Finally after driving through, around and over the lake for an hour or so, I got my first glimpse of Copacabana where I would stay for one day and then head to Cuzco from there. I could indeed now see why the beach in Rio was named after this place as it was a similar layout with two high rocky outcrops at either end of the beach (or the bay as it was a lake remember) and it curves round in a similar fashion. A very beautiful looking town as we approached it from above and I was looking forward to exploring.

Unfortunately on arrival I discovered that the hostel I had booked was not actually in Copacabana but on an island on lake Titcaca called Isla del Sol which I had heard about and was planning to visit depending on time constraints. Well now it seemed that I was destined to see it so I booked my boat ticket which left in one hour so found my boat and dropped my large bag off so that I could do it quick tour of the town in the hour or so that I had. I had seen a nice looking church or cathedral and after walking along the bay seeing the market stalls, getting photos with the cutest baby llamas

and watching the boats for a little while, I headed up to the church which turned out to be a quite fantastic looking church both inside and out!

Then I had a stroll through the park and by this time it was almost departure time so off I went to get on the boat.

The ride across the lake painted a pciture of the sheer size and scale of it. The biggest and highest navagable lake in the world, it really was like going out to see. One girl told me it was almost 500 metres deep in some places! Sitting up on top of the boat the sun was hot but the wind made it very chilly so I wrapped up warm and was even cold with my hat and gloves on! After about 2 hours on the boat (we had only travlled a tiny part of the lake and it had taken 2 hours!!) we reached Isla del Sol.

I was absolutely struck by the beauty of this place and I was so glad I had come. It was an Incan island and a community of natives called the Yucumani community lived there along with a large amount of backpackers who made their way there every day from Copacabana. The island was so remote (the only land nearby was the smaller Isla del Luna) meaning Island of the Moon that they were very scarce on certain things and there was no internet at all on the island. On disembarkation from the boat, I was quite releived to be on terra firma
as some parts of the boat ride had been quite choppy and I had a very sore bum sitting on the edge of a wooden plank for 2 hours but getting off the boat and asking where town and the hostels were, he pointed up to the top of the mountain simply saying 20 minutos arriba! 20 minutes up a very steep mountain face!! With a bag weighing 26kg on my back and hand luggage! This was certainly going to be a challenge I thought to myself!! It certainly was, absolutley exhausting walking up the steep valley steps, I thought my heart was
going to pop out of my chest at times it was beating so fast! I couldnt believe there had been no warning of this on the website! Or perhaps there had but since Id booked it in such a hurry I hadn't read that part. I didnt mind though as the scenery and views were simply amazing.

Once I finally reached my hostel I was totally shattered, it really had been a struggle but the view was one of the best I'd ever seen with a huge snow capped mountain chain directly opposite when looking out of the hostel window and the vast and seemingly neverending deep blue lake surrounding the island! It really was like I'd stumbled across a paradise island with thick green terraces all over, just a few small buildings, mainly restaurants and shops and isla del luna opposite I was so glad I'd made the error of booking my hostel here rather than Copacabana!

 I went in to check in and met my hostel mates for the night. It was only a small hostel called Inga Pacha run souly by a rather old looking but very nice Bolivian woman. In total in the hostal there were just 6 of us so it meant we all got to know each other very well. It was especially nice the fact that 4 of us of the 6 were English, a lovely couple from Liverpool (beleive it or not you do get lovely people from Pool too), a guy from Bristol who was travelling with a girl from Belgium called Joy and a guy from Canada called Steve who freaked me out a bit at first but turned out to be a nice guy. Having all just arrived and checked in, we all decided to go for food and had a great laugh and the food was even pretty good, 3 courses (veggie soup, omelette and veg and banana split and tea) all for 25 bs which is 2 pounds 50!! All the guys turned out to be very nice and we all got on really well and decided we'd go on a walk and explore this mystical island a little. I'd heard from the woman at the hostal that there was a a temple called templo del sol about 30 mins walk towards the islands' peninsula so I suggested that we walked there and tried to catch the sunset so everyone agreed apart from Joy who was too tired and went to bed. Wrapping up warm and making sure we all had torches for the way back we headed out, I led the group as I was the one who had been told where it was and it was my idea so off we went on our intrepid adventure exploring this amazing island! We walked the path for a while until it disappeared ad then had to walk through crop fields, volt stone walls, climb terraces, jump down slopes and then finally we found a path again. It was all great fun but there was no sign of any Incan temple and it was getting darker and darker so we just decided to try and get to the highest point and get a view of the sunset from there although we were just too late, we got about half way up to the highest point we coupld see on the island and did witness a nice sunset behind the mainland with the suns reflection on the lake making it even more spectacular (I got a photo that actually looked like a lava flow, as it was such a bright red between the mountains and clouds)

but unfortunately we were just too late and now it was very dark and certainly time to try and find our way back or risk getting lost. It was a real shame we were all leaving the next day as I got well with them
all and I really would like to have been able to explore the island properly.

Apparently they have another community on the other side of the island but that's a 3 hour hike away and I certainly wasnt doing it in the dark and didnt have time in the morning as check out was 10, the boat was 10.30 which meant I'd get to Copacabana at around 12.30 leaving me just half an hour til my bus to Cuzco. We had planned to get up at 6.30 for sunrise which was supposed to be spectacular but I just thought that since my room was facing the mountains and
the direction where the sunrises, there wasnt too much point in getting out of bed for it, I'd just watch it from the comfort and warmth of bed! On return from our walk, Steve went to bed too, leaving just the English and we all agreed we'd try and find somehwere to eat dinner since it was only 8pm and we all felt like food and a beer so we had a beer each and headed for food but surprisingly there were no bars at all and none of the restaurants were open (only shops) so we just decided to get beers and crisps and play cards back at the hostel. This was good fun
and we shared some good fun times but soon it was midnight and everyone was tired and went to bed. After agreeing to get up early for sunrise, nobody did and I simply opened my eyes to watch it for a few moments at around 6.30am and then went back to sleep again. It was quite impressive but not really worth getting out of bed for especially when I could see it without the need to get out of bed! A few hours later at around 9.30 we were all up and ready to leave to catch the 10.30am boat back to Copacabana.

THis didnt seem to take nearly as long as the boat out to the island perhaps because I had people to talk to and also the lake seemed alot calmer as well as the fact that we had a bigger slightly more powerful boat than last time.

After 2 hours crossing the lake we arrived at Copacabana at 12.30 so I had 30 minutes until the long bus journey to Cusco (around 14 hours!).

 Crossing into Peru was relatively straightforward although I had to wait in a long queue and then we headed up to Puno where we needed to change bus. Unfortunately this meant waiting around for a while for our bus to turn up which on arrival was loaded up
with crates and boxes and bags full of guinea pigs and chickens ready for sale and consumption. Very cruel treatment I thought, it made me very angry to see such treatment not to mention the smell but I just had to grin and bear it! Luckily, 3 nice young English girls were travelling on the same bus and one of them sat next to me and we pretty much told each other our life stories for 14 hours while everyone else went to sleep. I wasn't attracted to her but I felt comfortable chatting to her and felt I could confide in her so we had a great chat for a long long time! When we finally arrived at Cusco, I had no hotel booked so had foolishly gone for a hotel with the bus company guy which turned out to be a bad move as they were apparently fully booked when I arrived and so I had to stay in another and pay again which I was not too impressed about, bloody conman! Oh well, the next day I was meeting Dad and he'd be releiving me alot financially over the next couple of weeks so I wasn't too bothered. I was just looking forward to seeing Dad again and exploring Cusco and Peru!

BOLIVIA

La Paz

After a relaxing few days by the pool, spending most of my time with a lovely Irish guy I had travelled with from Asuncion called Noel, it was time for me to leave Iguazu and leave Argentina for good (until I ever returned if ever although I felt like I'd done the country pretty well already) and catch my flight to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.
Waking up with just an hour til my flight (I was supposed to be there an hour before check in!!) I quickly packed and got ready, said farewell and left my email with the semi conscious Noel and got in a cab. On arrival at the airport it turned out that even though I had only turned up with 15 minutes to go before the flight I had turned up in ample time and even met an American girl from my hostel who was travelling to BA whose name I can't remember for the life of me but turned out to be a bit of a saviour as on arrival in BA, I knew I had about 4 hours to burn so she accompanied me to the other international airport unexpectedly costing over 200 pesos which cleared me out as I only had dollars and a few pesos so she paid my airport tax of 50 pesos which I didnt even know about and bought me beers and lunch and kept me company so I was very grateful of her! I had met her the previous night but she had been high as a kite and people claimed she had wet herself so I steered clear but it turned out she was a very nice person and pretty good company despite the fact I couldnt get a word in edgeways!

So off I went, feelling alone for the very first time as always before this I've had someone travelling with me and I got on the plane. I was rather nervous since I was leaving for a totally new country (one I'd never been to and also the poorest in Latin America and one of the poorest in the world) so I didn't really know what to expect. After a 4 hour plane journey including a change
at Santa Cruz (Bolivia's largest and wealthiest city which was surpisingly flat and hot) we arrived in La Paz. FLying above it at night was quite something seeing millions of lights lighting up a mountain bowl and on landing it was just the same. Still being fairly nervous and apprehensive I found myself a taxi and asked for an ATM which the driver told me there was one in the airport so
on queueing for cash (Bolivian Bolivianos) I met 4 Aussies who were also going to the same hostel as me so I suggested we shared the same taxi and since none of them spoke a word of Spanish they were quite happy to have my assistance. On driving from the airport which was at the top of the mountain, you really could not help but be awe inspired by this amazing city, the highest in the world,
not only was it breathtaking due to the thin air but due to the awesomeness of the city. Just millions of lights in a mountain bowl. Our taxi driver heard the gasps and pulled over to allow us to take photos of this brilliant looking city. On arrival at the hostel we find out at reception that due to the national election weekend, the entire bar was lit by candle light and there was no music
and they weren't even supposed to be selling alcohol but they still were and I needed one so I joined 2 of the 4 Aussies who I'd met at the airport called Jay and Dean for a beer who I became very friendly with and I was also keeping my eyes peeled for Lydia, the girl I had met in Asuncion who was definitely also staying in the Loki (the name of our hostel) although there was no sign. After a few
beers it was noticeable to all of us that the altitude assisted in making us feel alot drunker than we actually were and we all felt quite short of breath and light headed. I knew that Chelsea were playing one of our biggest games of the season the next morning at 12.45 UK time which was 7.45 Bolivia time (we had lost an hour during travel between Argentina and Bolivia so now 5 hours difference)
so at about midnight I decided to call it a night.

On waking up, I looked at my watch and saw it was 7am and feeling extremely thirsty I thought I'd get up and get ready to watch the game but to my horror the bar was not open to buy water and I wasnt going to drink from Bolivian taps so I asked at reception and they said the bar opened at 7. It was now according to my watch half past and then I realised that I hadnt changed my watch so I had actually
woken at 6am! After waiting around for another half an hour the bar was finally open, I got my water and a good spot in front of the TV for the match and was accompanied by Jay who swore he'd get up and watch it with me so we had breakfast and then to my delight watched us beat them 2-1 at their place! A fantastic result. I was already on a high with the altitude but this lifted me even higher and I just
couldnt wait to get to get out and explore this awesome city! Having walked with Jay and Dean for a couple of hours taking some great pictures, we were really feeling the effects of the altitude and everything even the smallest steps seemed tiring! The worst thing was that from the main street of Santa Cruz, our hostel was up a steep hill which nearly killed us walking up and for the rest of the day we just spent it acclimatsing and drinking more beer to shake off the effects.

I had previously heard from the Aussies in Cordoba that if I go to La Paz I must stay in the Loki (which I was) and I must do the death road which was the most dangerous road in the world (the road with the most recorded deaths 200-300 travellers a year die on it every year). When I say do it, I mean mountain bike down it. At first I was
fearful and thinking no, it's just some crazy Aussies trying to kill themselves but it turned out pretty much everyone in my hostel had done it so I agreed with Jay and Dean that we would do it the following day. I finally caught up with Lydia (the ENglish girl from Southampton I had met in Asuncion) and after catching up she agreed she'd come and do it with us. It turns out she had been to San Pedro prison
and was the first tourist to go there for a year as they had refused entry to tourists after some Israelies went a bit crazy there. I was naiive to the fact that this was the most infamous prison in the world where it is pretty much self run by inmates, the biggest producer of cocaine in the country and home to some 1500 prisoners in varying conditions (both Dean and Lydia told me about Marching Powder a famous book written by an English guy who had been in prison there but I'd never heard of it). According to Lydia absolutely anything goes there, she was offered cocaine, weed, booze and even a real Bolivian passport! What sort of a prison was this I thought to myself! The most corrupt in the world, that's what!! She had a contact and promised us that we would go which Dean was really pleased about. After a few more beers
(they had a dangerous room tab system!) it was off for an early night in preparation for the most dangerous thing I'd probably ever done the next morning.

Waking up early the next day to go on the bikes, we clambered into the minibus and headed off to the top of the mountain to begin our descent. La Paz is around 4500 metres above sea level and this place was even higher so we were all quite breathless when we arrived and were all pretty unsure how we were going to ride a bike when we could hardly walk without being out of breath although they call it gravity assisted
biking for a reason as the bike does most of the work. We started off on the road riding down some extremely steep and tight windy roads going at very high speed. YOu basically don't need to peddle. I usually like to be at the front in these kind of things and I was to begin with but in seeing Jay whizz past pedalling as hard as he could I found it hard to keep up with him and the guide even though I was leaving the rest behind
I just couldnt keep up with the other two no matter how hard I pedalled, it seemed to make no difference and at one point I nearly lost control completely in trying to avoid a bump in the road with the front wheel juddering and jerking either side at such a rate that I was sure I was going to come off and preparing myself for a very painful probable bone breaking fall but luckily I regained control and just thought to myself none
of this macho racing lark, just keep yourself alive and in one piece!! After about half an hour on the asphalt road, our guide led us off road down a bumpy track with very very sttep sides where I was sure I was going to die without due care and concentration. Hell to it, if I'm dying here I'm dying here, the 2 Aussies were going for it and I wasn't going to be outdone by them so I took the lead and kept it for the majority of the time.
It was fantastic fun, speeding down the narrow bumpy tracks just wide enough for one car with a 600-700 metre drop to the side and there's nothing quite like it for an adrenalin rush with the constant fear of death in the back of your mind. Constantly going past crosses marking the places where people had previously died it made the fear even more prominent! At one point we stopped at the edge of a sheer drop where a group of other riders had stopped and were peering over the side. The Bolivian guide said the idiot has lost my bike! I thought he was joking and then on further inspection it turned out that indeed there was a bike probably 150 metres down the mountain and this Israeli guy had just managed to jump off in time before plummeting to his almost certain death and letting the bike go!! SO they got the abseil equipment out and went down for the bike. We all found this amusing but it was all too realistic just how easy it could be to die here!! We were riding through thick cloud so visiblity was low, the path was wet from cloud moisture and waterfalls and there were loose rocks and boulders to contend with not to mention passing cars, trucks, lorries and coaches so vigilance was pretty vital!! It was about halfway down the mountain that I realised the sheer beauty of the place, lush forest covered mountains dense jungle like vegetation clinging to every inch of mountain slope, beautiful waterfalls and some beautiful flowers and butterfiles. It was a shame I was whizzing past it all at about 60-70 mph or I would've got some great photos but I had to keep up with the guide! No one had mentioned the views and scenery, only the dangers so I just thought it was going to be dusty bumpy desert like roads so nothing had prepared me for the beauty of this place!

As Lydia said on stopping at one point, it was just like being in a scene from Jurassic Park when the helicopter flies over it for the first time! Truly amazing! Trouble was you couldnt stare and admire the view to much since you had to concetrate on the road although I loved it so much that at one point I just thought sod it and got my camera out and videoed just steering one handed! Dangerous I know but I surived to tell the tale! An American guy passing
even said to me that it was a great skill I had which made me laugh. Most certainly the most thrilling and scariest things I'd ever done I was so relieved to finally get to the end and survive the most dangerous road in the world (only the next day we heard that an Israeli woman had fallen to her death!!!) It was just such a relief to finally get to the bottom in one piece and have a well deserved beer! We got the t-shirts saying I survived the death road
and a CD with the pictures that the guide had taken which was part of the price which we picked up the next day. It had been a long and tiring day and the 3 hour journey back to La Paz took it out of us so we went to bed fairly early. The aussies and I had decided to go to the the famous salt plains (the largest salt plain in the world) the next day. We'd decided to get a night bus as it was a 13 hour journey so we felt it better to sleep and arrive there at 8am to
do the tour. This was perhaps the bumpiest and scariest bus journey I've ever taken with the whole bus shaking almost like being in a rollercoaster the roads really were that bad. After the 13 hours on the bus we finally arrived in Uyuni (the town where all the salt plains tours go from). We found out that the tour didnt start until 10.30 so we had over 2 hours to kill but there wasnt too much to see in the town, just a market, a few restaurants a church and a few monuments.
After a bit of brekkie a few photos and a fair bit of waiting around, it was ready to leave. First we went to the train cemmetery, a place in the middle of the desert where an old abandoned train track lay with probably nearly 100 old rusty abandoned trains all over the place, on the tracks, on their sides and piled up against each other! Quite a sight I must say! You were allowed to climb them, go inside them and walk across them so it made for some pretty cool photos!

Next we headed for the salt plains which on arrival seemed like we had just arrived in antarctica as it was so white like snow, the whole land was just covered in salt!

It was a simply amazing sight and well worth the 13 hours on the bus. At Uyuni we had seen some photos on the plains where people were in giant shoes or hugging toys but it was a trick of the eye as the white ground gives no concept of distance so we took some great photos ourselves of us inside my trainer and inside a box of cigarettes, it looked so realistic!

After a good hour driving through the bright white plains, we arrived at the island of cacti, an amazing island in the middle of the plains which was just absolutely covered in cacti and pretty much nothing else!

This was by far one of the most amazing places I'd ever been and I couldnt believe I was actually considering skipping it!

Luckily Lydia had told me it was one of the main attractions of South America and was insistent that you don't come to South America and especially not Bolivia without seeing the plains, she was like it's like going to Rio without seeing Christ the Redeemer so I'm glad she persuaded me into ot as it was totally amazing and must not be missed if ever travelling in South America!

Everything there was so white it looked like snow for miles and miles although it was very warm especially with the hot sun reflecting an albedo effect. We actually went into a hotel and museum that
was totally made of salt which was amazing with carvings of animals, tables and chairs buildings all made from salt.

THis was a truly amazing place and was well worth the journey although it was a shame I didnt have time to do the 3 day tour as I needed to get to Cuzco to meet Dad and Jay and Dean needed to be in Rio for some reason only to return back to Cuzco a few days later to also do the Inca Trail so perhaps I'd meet them there. We actually got pills stronger than valium for the journey back to assist with sleeping but even that didnt help as it was so bumpy and so loud, I'm shocked we actually got back in one piece without the bus falling apart! Not even a puncture! I was relieved that we were finally back in La Paz in one piece when I saw it approaching and decided that since it was my last day I would do a city tour and book my bus to Cuzco. Unfortunately as the food at Loki always takes at least an hour to arrive (I only ordered a bowl of soup!) we missed the tour bus that we had paid 50 bs for (admittedly its only 5 quid) but I was annoyed because of the principle. So we took a taxi to see if we could find it as it was a hop on hop off but no sign so instead we just got the taxi to take us to the mirador where we got a great view of the city and took some nice photos. After this is was pretty much time to say goodbye to Jay and Dean til Cuzco so after they left I felt a little alone as Lydia had gone off to do the 3 day salt
plains trip and now they were gone I knew noone but almost at the moment my 2 Aussie mates were leaving, Nick the Aussie I'd shared a room with in Cordoba walked in! Stranger still just after that Martha, the Norwegian girl I'd gone out with in Iguazu came in so it was almost on cue that more people I knew came just as as the others I'd befriended were leaving. After a few drinks with these guys and meeting and getting to know a nice Bolivian tourism student named Gilda Tapia I decided to call it an earlyish night as I had to get the bus at 7.30am.

I nearly missed it as I had no alarm, luckily Gilda was already awake brushing her hair which woke me up and checking my watch I noticed it was ten to 8 so I jumped up threw yesterdays clothes on, grabbed my bags and ran to reception where I was being picked up. It was sad for me leaving La Paz as I wouldve liked to see a bit more of the city and the nightlife when it's not election time but I just didnt have the chance! Maybe I'll go back one day! Off to pastures new for me, Copacabana first (not the beach in Rio) the town in Bolivia which the beach had been named after.