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Bolivia
We got up early at Olly and did all our washing so we could have it dry in time to return to Cusco. We hung it up on the rooftop lines and went to breakfast and then returned to pack. At 1030 I went up to collect it and was grabbed by the receptionist and given all our wet washing back saying that they needed the lines for the sheets and towels. We didn´t want to travel with wet gear so we walked out of town to the river and strung them over the bushes to dry.
After lunch we caught a couple of public buses back to Cusco and then just had time to store our bags, buy some more travel pants and then a quick dinner before heading to the bus station for our overnight trip to Puno. Trip was comfortable although cold as they did not provide blankets and we arrived in Puno at 0430. Our bus to Copcabana didn´t leave until 0730 so we had time for breakfast and then sat around in the freezing terminal - thermometer said it was 22 deg but was probably closer to 2.2 deg!!
A small hiccup at
the Peru/ Bolivia border that I´ll explain later (when I´m safe back in NZ) but otherwise a good trip through to Copacabana. Didn´t have any particular hotel/hostel in mind but saw a sign for the Mirador Hotel and remembered some good comments so tried there. The room had a magnificent view out over the lake but was otherwise a bit tired. Only 100 Bs ($25 NZ) a night including breakfast. Magnificent church in the town with beautiful silver altar, tabernacle etc. Booked a boat trip out to Isle de Sol for the next day.
Boat was full but we managed to grab a couple of seats on the top deck, was absolutely freezing but a good trip all the same. The boat dropped us off at the northern end of the island and we walked across the island to the town at the southern end. Saw some locals digging in the region of the Inca ruins so hope that they were there officially. Had to pay a total of village taxes of 25 Bs on the walk. Met up with a great group of people from all over the world who had been staying at the southern end. Shared
a beer with them at the end of the trek (5 hours+) in a cafe overlooking a superb example of an old glacial cirque and then had to run to catch the boat back to the mainland.
Booked our tickets to La Paz for 1330 the next day and spent the morning (Sun) up near the church where cars and buses were being blessed by priests and then by Shamans?? The vehicles were all dressed up and then after water was sprayed over them they were covered in flower petals. After the blessings, beer/wine was poured over the wheels of the vehicles and strings of firecrackers were set off.
Although we had booked with Tour Peru we were made to walk around the corner to another travel co who loaded us onto a mini-bus which took us to a third Co where we finally got to board our bus. Must have been one of the buses blessed that morning as it had shrunk quite considerably from the photos we were shown.
Again a good trip around the lake to a point where we were all offloaded and caught a speedboat to the other side. the bus travelled
separately on a ferry and we were soon on our way again. The trip continued across the Altoplain with the snow capped mountains in the background until we started dropping down the canyon into La Paz city. The bus dropped us off on a steep street outside the travel Co´s preferred hotel (Sagarnaga). We were going to go to the Milton Hotel but checked out the one we were outside and decided to stay there (80 Bs/night). Turned out we were right on the corner of the Witches market so not a bad location. Ate dinner that night at a Lebanese cafe (Yousseffs, top end of Sagarnaga Rd) and was cheap and excellent.
Booked our tickets to Rurrenabarque for Tues morning and will return to Sagarnaga Hotel for one night on 23rd before leaving for Cochabamba. Went for a walk around the city ending up at some Museums but they were closing for lunch (3 hours!!) so did some shopping as we needed a smaller bag for the flight. Also picked up some touristy things and an old miners lamp for me.
Internet here very slow so hard to update blog - pages often timeout before uploads are
complete.
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