From Puno to La Paz

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The trip into Bolivia was quite well organised by our tour company Tour Peru. We boarded a bus in the Puno bus station at 7.30am and several hours later we had to disembark to walk across the border into Bolivia. Having already completed the neccesary paperwork on the bus, we then had to queue in two different buildings. At the first building we were okayed by the National Guard (ok to leave?!) and then next door we got our passports stamped by the Peruvian authorities. We then walked about 300m under the arch in no mans land into the Bolivian immigration office for another stamp.

It was quite simple really. We then had to reclaim our luggage from the Peruvian bus and walk to the waiting white mini-buses which would take us as far as Copacabana. This was our first experience of surrendering our rucksacks to the roofrack on the top of the bus. The buses were simply too small to take them with us on our laps. Thankfully all went well, and even my boots that were hanging on the outside survived the short 8km drive.

At Copacabana we had one hour to eat before taking an onward Bolivian bus. We sadly didn't get to see much of the town after which Copacabana in Rio is named, as our food took so long to arrive. We did get entertained (read annoyed) by an American girl beside us who managed to babble non-stop for the 40minutes we had to wait for our food. We boarded the Bolivian bus with a headache, warily scanning the seats for the familiar blonde. Her voice reminded me of the character of Janice in Friends. I shudder even now as I recall it!

From Copacabana the bus travelled onward to the tip of the peninsula where we were shooed off the bus so that it could cross Lake Titicaca on a raft. We had to purchase a ticket and were ferried across on little tug boats. It was a pleasant break from the cramped bus and the sun was shining on the other side as we waited for our bus to catch up with us.

We had expected to arrive in La Paz at 3pm, but this is clearly Bolivian timing. In fairness, we weren't in a hurry, but despite the one hour time change we were 2 hours late when we pulled up at the Bus Terminal at 5pm. We decided to make our way to the hostel to dump our bags. Our hostel experience in La Paz was a mixed lot. Our room was fantastic, it was clean, spacious and private. The hostel had a little kitchen and we decided to head off in search of food to make our own dinner. Eating spagetti bolognese and pizzas in cheap italian restaurants was beginning to take its toll!

As we waited (forever) for a pot to boil, the music level was raised. From now on I will pay particular attention to the "Fun" rating of the hostels we choose. Loud german trance music is not my idea of fun - particularly when it is played until 2am directly under your bedroom! Cranky and tired we didn't do much the next day. It was Sunday and everywhere was closed, so we didn't really have much choice. Thankfully the resident DJ was out on Sunday night and we awoke fresh faced and ready to explore La Paz on Monday morning.

La Paz is a really nice, busy city. If you walk near any of the main arteries of the city you hear a cacophony of mini-bus horns and voices repeatedly yelling their destinations. These are called Micros and are the common method of getting around the city. We chose to walk all around the city centre, trying to keep up some of our Machu Picchu inspired fitness regime. We sat among the Bolivians and the pigeons in the central Plaza Murillo. We saw the changing of the guard in front of the Parliament building. We found a shopping centre to vary our wardrobe a bit, then we visited the only museum that appeared to be open on a Monday in La Paz - the, very interesting, Musical Instruments Museum. It houses instruments from every country down through the years. We even got to play on some of the exhibits.

We walked as far as San Francisco Square, where we saw a church that looks just like every other San Franciscan Church we have visited on this trip. If nothing else, they were consistant! Then we wandered off in search of the Witches Market. This eery corner of town is home to stall upon stalls selling magical rocks and herbs and llama foetus' for potions. It's quite disgusting when you think about it, but its also a huge tourist trap.

Then we picked up more ingredients for our home-cooked meal at the local market. The grand total of our dinner came to about €2.40. Bolivia, true to its reputation, is very cheap! With no anti-social behaviour in the hostel on Monday night, we are fit for our next bus trip - on a local bus from the Bus Terminal to a town east of La Paz called Cochabamba.

More from there.

Sinead & Philippe

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Photos

Playing on the exhibits
oh, reh, me, fa, so... what comes next?