Lake Titicaca and Bolivia

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Untitled May - losing track of the dates here. Around the 20-25 time frame.

hey everyone! It's been a while I know....I've been in the very remote southwest corner of bolivia and then actually came down sick for about 5 days, finally have recovered! so expect some catching up on the blog.

I{m now in Bolivia. And there are apparently no apostrophes on this keyboard. So, when leaving Cuzco I decided to take a *tourist bus* to Puno, right on the border. Not something I would usually do, for reasons including the fact that it costs much more than public buses, but it stopped at some sights along th way like Pre-Inca ruins *of which there aren{t many* and included a *traditional* lunch. There are no quote marks either, that I can find, so bear with my astericks.

The ruins, etc. were cool but the entire experience felt very pacakged-tourist fake. Everywhere we stopped were little souvenir stands, and our servers at lunch time wore traditional attire. We sat outside at nice tables in a quiet garden, and you could hear only the gentle chatter, the clanking of silverware and the tinkle of ice in glasses...all surrounded by...the ambient sounds of *it{s a beautiful world* instrumental. This in contrast to the typical Peruvian bus experience which can be summed up in the world - chaos. First, the bus is at least 30 min late and people start banging on the side of it yelling *vamos* - you almost think things might turn violent. At last, once they{ve squeezed 10 more people in to the already full bus, they BLARE spanish music for the entire ride...no exaggeration, I actually wear my ear plugs. And the lunch stop is pure madness...everyone pours out into one *restaurant* to line up for their rice and chicken.

I spent one night in the lakeside town of Puno, and perhaps one of the easiest border crossings ever. I was surprised to find that the Boliviano has not strengethened v the dollar, like the Peruvian Sole has. I do not know the reason for this. Just across the border is a very quiet lakeside town, Copacabana. Here I found a number of travelers stranded because of a bus strike-blockade. I think this was a typical welcome to Bolivia. I hear these are rather common. Note: I later met two swedish girls who found a taxi driver to take them through the blockade, and their car was basically mobbed. They were fine except the car suffered many dings and dents, and lost a bumper.

I took a lovely boat ride across the beautiful Lake Titicaca - which straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia. It is unbelievably cold there, as the elevation is 3800m, and it is so massive it looks more like an ocean than a lake.

Isla Del Sol is a tiny island, no cars, population 2500 plus a few tourists, and is extremely beautiful. I spent 6 hours hiking all the way back and forth across the island and visited some very cool Inca ruins right on the water *see pic*. The island is very historically significant. They say this is where the Inca civilization started from.

At dinner time I could find only one place to eat *as could other visitors* so I had dinner at a table with two very cute german sisters. We had delicious, fresh trout salmon from the lake. Probably my best meal so far! We could hear the mom cooking the food up, and the maybe 10 year old boy was serving us.

I had a great room with an amazing view over the lake. I paid 30Bs, about $3.75, and then found out an Australian couple in the room next to me - we shared a bathroom - paid $20US for basically the same room! Two words for you - travel agent.

A great start to my trip in Bolivia, and next to La Paz...

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Photos

Commercial Tourism
Here are a bunch of Peruvians pawning their crap-i mean-souvenirs, outside the Wari (pre-Inca) ruins

Boat Ride to Isla Del Sol
2 hour boat ride over, Copacabana is in the background!

View from My Room
Here is the view from my room on Isla Del Sol - it looks out over Isla De La Luna.

Chincana Ruins
Inca Ruins on Isla Del Sol.

Jaime at Chincana
Here I am at the ruins...Lake Titicaca in the background.

My favorite Snack!
Peruvian-Bolivian massive size popcorn pieces with a little something sweet on it. Yum, I{ve been eating it every day. You can see the big bags this woman is selling (i bought some from her)

Comments

[Bahar]

something weird happened when i tried to add my comment, so in case it went through i'll just say again, great to hear from you again, great pictures, stay safe, have fun! love you!

[Justin Nassiri]

Room with a view
I can't believe your room on Isla Del Sol - talk about a steal of a deal. Especially compared to the Ausies. The bus ride sounds like an adventure in and of itself!