The last few days have seen us travel eastwards from Copocabana on Lake Titikaka to La Paz, the 'administrative' capital of Bolivia. This region is part of the altiplano, or high plains, of Bolivia although they are anything but flat.Copocabana is a lovely chilled place on the side of the lake where, as a friend once correctly described, everybody walks very slowly. Yes, there are hippies selling trinkets and playing bongos on the street but don't let that put you off. It's a great place to hang out which is exactly what we did for the next three days along with an Italian friend Angela who we met on the way from Puno.
We had heard about a lovely island called Isla de Sol, the supposed origin of the Inka creation myth, where the sunsets where awesome and the donkeys plentiful. So, the next morning, we caught a painfully slow (could have swum it faster) ferry out to the island where we were provided with a guided tour in Spanish of some of the Inka ruins. Why is it that on all these tours the guides always point out things which if you can stretch your imagination you can just about make out the outline of a puma, or elephant or whatever? Why do people insist on doing this? It reminds me of those annoying Americans who travel thousands of miles across their country to see the virgin Mary in a piece of toast.
After a beautiful 3hr walk across the island, where we did indeed stumble upon many donkeys, we found a place to shack up for the night and a gorgeous restaurant serving great food to accompany the stunning sunset.
Pics of Isla de Sol here.
We returned by boat to Copa the following morning where we decided to stay another night before moving on to La Paz. We spent the afternoon climbing Cerro Calvario following the stations of the cross before descending for lunch. A swim in the lake was a necessity so we hired a pedalo from which I swam for a very cold but pleasant five minutes.
The next afternoon we left for La Paz. It was a culture shock to be back in a big city and La Paz is very diferent form other cities in South America. It has an Asian feel to it that reminded me of Bangkok; it is extremely busy, over populated and very polluted. We got a taxi to the area around Santa Cruz where, after failing to get into the hostel we wanted we settled for the one next door where we shared a dorm with a rather bemused looking Japanese student. A short exploration of the market and we found some lovely llama foetuses and comedy stuffed ocelots.
The following day was spent sightseeing. First, we visited the unexpectedly interesting Coca Museum which provided fascinating information on the national plant from spritual, historical, social and political perspectives. A wander around the beautiful Museo de Arte Contemporaneo saw me almost buy an expensive oil painting but back out at the last minute after Mel said she didn't like it. Finally, we took a bus out to the weird rock formations of Valle de la Luna.
You cannot visit La Paz without mountain biking down the 'Worlds Most Dangerous Road' towards Coroico, so called because of the number fatalities incurred from falling off the road down 1000m sheer drops!
After ensuring that we had booked up with a good company with top quality bikes (absolutely necessary) we began our ride at the La Cumbre (summit) at 4700m in atrocious weather and descended on a tarmac road until the entrance to the jungle and the infamous narrow dirt road. The weather was so bad we couldn't see the spectacular views across the valley but hurtling down the track past cascading waterfalls and rock overhangs was so exhilerating that it was easy to forget just how dangerous this road is. But, we had constant reminders in the form of memorials to less fortunate riders at the side of the road not to mention the occasional bus wreckage.
As we dropped the 2000m to Yolosa the conditions got hotter although no less wet and after a couple of enjoyable river crossings we finally made it to the bottom where we enjoyed a beer and got the team photo before a buffet lunch and shower at a nearby hotel.
A fantastic day out! (Pics here)
After a much need lie in we decided to see if we could visit someone in South Americas most infamous prison San Pedro. This is no ordinary prison. The 1000 inmates live in various degrees of comfort depending on their resourcefulness to get the money needed to survive. It is a full on microcosm of a capitalist society with many living in wretched condition whilst some with all the conveniences of five star hotels.
We wanted to see if we could get in to speak to someone and perhaps take a tour of the prison. Normally, we would need a name of a specific 'friend' or 'relative' on the inside with whom to request an 'interview', but unfortunately we couldn't get this information so we decided to wing it. Through the main gates we could see into the courtyard where some of the inmates were hanging out. One in particular, a wired looking redhaired man in his early twenties, got our attention and soon I had a note passed to me by the guards with a name 'Ernesto Solla' and number to call. From a callbox, we dialled the number, and Ernesto answered. He told us he was Spanish and gave us a wish list in return for a promise of admission; a packet of cigarettes, biscuits, Coke and B70($9). We bought these items and passed them to him via the guards. Another note told us to wait for 10minutes. But the situation started to worsen at this point. In a change of demands he now wanted B70 for each person! After some deliberating the girls decided it wasn't worth it but myself and Itamar (an Israeli friend who was with us) desperately wanted to gain access so agreed to pay another B70 to let both of us in. We knew it was a risk and sure enough we recieved another note askingus to come back at 2.30pm.
A few hours later and on our return the guards had suddenly become much more hostile and aggressive, not even letting us get anywhere near the gates. We could still see Ernesto in the courtyard but it was hopeless. The obvious story was that the guards were all in on the scam and were all taking their cut but we had good fun trying even though we were $20 worse off!
This morning, we bid farewell to Angela, packed and checked out of the hotel and spent the rest of the day present buying for everyone back home.
Tonight we are off to volunteer at an animal refuge in Villa Tunari called Inti Wara Yassi for two weeks where if we're lucky we might get to work with monkeys or even big cats!
Stuff:
Currency Bolivianos B8 to $1
Hotel Colonial, Copocabana B60 per double
Hostel Inti Kala, Isla de Sol B25
Restaurant Las Velas, Isla de Sol
Copacanaba to La Pax - 3hrs by bus
Hotel Cactus B25 per double, very nice and great location
Restaurant/Bar Sol y Luna, great bar and good steaks
Barro Biking Death Road Tour $43 each
Facts:
National Drink: Singani, which with Sprite becomes a Chuflay
La Paz is not the capital of Bolivia. It is in fact Sucre!
