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Published: January 18th 2007
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Lake Titicaca
This is the sort of view we had during our walk around the lake. Make anyone jealous? Copacabana
Nope, not the suburb of Rio - this Copacabana is in the north of Bolivia and rests on the lake front of Lake Titicaca. We decided we´d had enough of taking tours with loads of other backpackers and chose to walk to the Isla del Sol along the lake shore and through the surrounding villages. Neither of us realised how long or exhausted we´d be after walking 18 kms (taking us about 4.5 hours) at 4000 mtrs above sea level! We arrived at the boat jetty tired but consoled ourselves that we´d nearly walked a half marathon. We proceeded to organise (well we thought we´d organised) a cheap trip across a small straight to the Isla del Sol.
Half way across the lake to the island Jem convinced the boat owner to let him have a go driving the boat as we were the only two passengers on board. Shortly after a quick steer at the helm the boat driver, cut the engine demanded more money to drop us at our destination. In a no win situation we swiftly agreed in principal we shouldn´t pay extra so we were dropped at the earliest convenient point for the boat owner.
"Sucker" written all over him
Shortly after Jem handed back the controls - our "friendly" boat driver cut the engine and demanded more money! Morale of the story - don´t ask to drive the boat. This turned out to be a good 30 min jog up a steep path then around a couple of bays in order for us to catch the last ferry home (jogging at 4000m nearly killed us). In hindsight, dam the principals as the extra 25 Bolivianos (approx 3 USD) which would have gotten us to the port would have been money well spent!
We also got done on the way back to Copacabana (nice to know previous experience counts for virtually nothing) - and managed to catch a slow boat (2 hours) back instead of the ferry (approx. 1 hour). We should have known because the ticket touts kept on delaying trying to find more suckers! We protest at one point, threatening to get off the boat unless we left right then and there. The driver materialised and we were off! On the brightside - we still got back to town safe and sound. Live and learn.
Our hotel also deserves a mention - as we stayed in the honeymoon suite (as our South American trip is the long awaited honeymoon). It had a view overlooking the lake was one of the quirkiest places we´ve stayed in. There
Who needs insurance when a blessing is only $1.35
This ceremony took place outside the Copocabana cathedral. The cars were decorated down the street, driven up to the cathedral and blessed. The locals also poured beer and champers over the car (not sure how traditional that can be!). The insurance companies have a hard time competing with God (and the priest who were only charging $1.35) was a carved wooden sink, plants in the bathroom that were planted directly into the soil, a mosaic tiled shower / bath... the bedroom was a mezzanine above the main lounge area. Very cool - check out the website if you want... http://www.hotelcupula.com/
La Paz
Although we could have stayed longer in Copacabana we headed south to La Paz to continue our adventure. The buses in Peru had been (generally) pretty impressive - some with business class style seating - so the "tourist" bus to La Paz was a bit of a shock. It came with minimal legroom and seats that made the ones on the district line tubes look new!
As promised by nearly everyone we´d spoken to (and the guide book) arriving by bus gives you and incredible first impression of La Paz. The city itself is set in a volcanic crater and has slowly crept up the sides. El Alto (the dodgy city right above La Paz) is spilling down into the crater to met it. It is quite a spectacular sight.
We spent a few days exploring La Paz and organising our next move. La Paz is a relaxing city which is easy
Llama anyone?
This is a stall at the witches market. These are baby llamas or llama foetuses. These are offerings to Pachamama (the earth mother) when you buy a new house or start a new business for good luck. However, if you are rich - you are supposed to make an offering of a grown llama! to explore by foot with the odd taxi to help out when you are tired and looking straight up another hill. La Paz is the highest (or perhaps second highest) capital city in the world so the altitude does get to you - so we´re not total slobs taking taxis up the hills. On the plus side chocolate is supposed to help with altitude!
La Paz had some weird and wonderful sites as well - like the witches market which was about a block away from our hotel. Check out the photo of the llama foetuses. Gross huh? It also has numerous restored colonial buildings and ornate churches.
Unfortunately there were two attractions missed during our time in La Paz. Firstly, mountain biking down The Worlds Most Dangerous road (or so it is nicknamed) because its rainy season so the recommended tour companies aren´t running that trip. And secondly, visiting San Pedro prison, the notice outside the front gates said that as of July 2006 tourists are no longer allowed to visit. The prison is supposedly self governed however, the guards with machine guns outside the main doors puts that fact into dispute. The story with the prison
Jesuit Missions...
Jem relaxing in the square in San Javier (the first of the Jesuit Missions). is that if your father or husband gets imprisoned here - as a child or spouse you can also "live" at the prison - coming and going as you please. The richest (read: drug barons) inmates live in near luxury - with (apparently) penthouse "cells / apartments". The poorest inmates live in squalor in small overcrowded cells. The place became a tourist attraction because the inmates conducted tours explaining how the prison worked.
Santa Cruz
But time was ticking and we are becoming more and more aware of how few days we have left! So we flew to Santa Cruz - primarily for a trip to the jungle and visiting some UNESCO approved Jesuit churches. We didn´t plan to spend much time in Santa Cruz but using it as a base while we went on short trips in the surrounding area.
Firstly, we visited two of the 7 villages which are famous for their Jesuit churches. The Jesuit mission started in Paraguay and moved into Bolivia. Very few of the churches remain in Paraguay as they were built in stone and since then, the stone has been ´recycled´ for use in other buildings. The Bolivian ones, however, were
Los Volcanos Eco Lodge
This was taken from at the top of the 4WD track. The photo doesn´t do it justice! constructed with wood and mud bricks - hence the materials weren´t valuable enough to recycle!
The churches seemed incredibly out of place - the towns surrounding them are small mud brick houses, mostly with unpaved roads. The churches (and buildings in the adjacent squares) have been plastered, painted white and have ornate paintings covering the walls. The large wooden pillars, both inside and out, have been carved into spirals. They are elaborate in a way that we´ve not really seen before in our travels and highlight the basic houses in the towns surrounding them. It is also nice to know that they are still in use by those living in and around the towns.
Back to Santa Cruz and then off to spend some time in the Jungle. We decided against a all out camping trip and went for the Eco Lodge (before anyone makes a high maintenance comment - it was Jems decision). It was in a truly spectacular location (the photos can´t do it justice) and can only be reached by 4WD. Some parts of the road into the lodge you´d question even walking down, by far its the roughest, steepest and mudest road we´ve ever
Our jungle adventure beings
The back wheels were stuck in the mud causing the front to vere to the left on the brigde. The guide "suggested" we could wait on the other side for him - Naera was very keen to take him up on his suggestion! been down. Health and Safety wasn´t high on any ones list of priorities but the disclaimer form was. The lodge is set in a clearing which is surrounded by mountains. We spent 3 days lazing about in the hammocks and taking walks into the surrounding jungle. There was only one other guest at the lodge so we were treated as honoured guests. Unfortunately the snakes and monkeys escaped us but we did see numerous small tarantulas. It didn´t seem to matter as you only needed to look at the view to know what a cool place you were in! Our guide didn´t speak much English which gave Naera a change to brush up on some more Spanish! A lesson in emersion!
We headed back to Santa Cruz via Samiapata to check out El Fuerte. What can only be described as odd rock carving. Its not your ordinary run of the mill rock carving though, it´s been radiocarbon-dated at approximately 1500 BC. The rock which is probably 10 mtrs wide and about 50 metres long has lots of niches and lines carved into it. No one actually knows what it was used for (although UFO and alien theories have been
No crocodiles...
Or so the guide promised us! The colour of the river bed is true to this photo and the water wasn´t that cold! mutted). The general feeling is that it had some religious significance although no one really knows what.
And from Santa Cruz we attempted to head to Sucre... the plane got cancelled the first time around but we made it to Sucre today (on the second attempt), and this is where we will leave you here (till next time)!
Take care,
Naera and Jem
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