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Published: December 24th 2008
Am presently holed up in La Paz waiting for a yay or nay of whether we can fly to Rurrenabaque in the jungle (it was cancelled yesterday because of bad weather). So may as well do a little recap of Bolivia while I wait.
So Copacabana...Its supposed to be a chilled out hippy place which I thought was right up my street, or potential street at least!. Found a very pink looking hostal to crash and then spent the afternoon wandering around and dipping our feet into Lake Titicaca, it was just like being by the sea, and the twinkles it created in the water was incredible, stunning in fact!
That night we found some nice food and ended up in a bar where I got some words of wisdom from the barman. He was from Argentina but had been in Copa quite a while and was very laid back...when I asked what I should do with the rest of my life he replied ´take a shot of coke?´ which i interpreted as live life to the day and not worry about tomorrow...
The next day we took a boat to Isla Del Sol an island about an
Isla del Sol dinner
The best dinner I have had so far, fresh trout with the best surroundings to have it in!hour and a half from Copa. As soon as we arrived we had to negotiate a steep climb up to the top and realised we were back at very high altitude again! (close to 4200m high). We then found the nicest hostal (and closest, to save breath and energy) which actually turned out to have some very friendly owners. The lady was even able to predict the weather which i thought was very clever. ´5 minutes and the rain will stop´she said, and 5 minutes later sure enough she was right! We took a walk around and ended up having dinner overlooking the lake at sunset, it was ideallic.
The next day we did a long walk around the island and ended up a little off the beaten track passing small villages and talking to the locals. We also luckily had a few caramelos left over from our bus ride to hand out to the kids...
We spent one more night in Copa and then took our bus ride to La Paz which was very interesting! Half way through the journey we all had to get off and get a boat across Lake Titicaca to continue our journey.
So we got on the smallest rickety boat to get across which made me slightly nervous, particularly as myself and a very worried little girl were watching the water seeping in...but all was fine and we made it across pretty quickly. However we then spent a further 20 minutes watching our bus load itself onto a wooden platform, which then turned out to have a motor to ship the boat across the lake too!! No idea how it worked but it did!
Entering La Paz is pretty impressive, its shaped like a basin spralled with buildings and we spiralled down on our bus into the mayhem that is La Paz! I am not sure it is my favourite of places and we have so far stayed a little too long waiting to get to the jungle, however it is very different. A buzzing busy busy city, where you really have to watch yourself everywhere you walk so you dont bump into someone or walk into the hundreds of micros trying to negotiate the narrow streets tooting their horns at every opportunity.
We took a mini lonely planet guided walk on our second day. We passed the witch market
(llama, frog, cat skeletons anyone? - apparently its for good luck) and then walked through numerous black markets, which seemed to sell everything you dont need and nothing that you do. After about an hour of walking through these crammed market stalls we decided to leave the chaos and head to a quieter bit of town (which to be honest isnt that much more quiet!).
La Paz was definitely geared towards Christmas. Christmas lights, christmas nativity toys and a few eary looking santas standing outside car showrooms shouting ho ho ho, one of which had painted his face white, most peculiar.
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So its Christmas Eve today and in one hours time I will know either way if I am off to the jungle on a plane or heading on an overnight bus to Sucre south of La Paz...all will be revealed in my next blog!! Until then, adios!!
xx
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