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Published: October 11th 2005
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Idyllic Isla del Sol
Crystal blue waters at 3,800m You've got to love the Bolivians. If they're not happy they get out on the streets and make themselves heard. They could even teach the French a thing or two when it comes to civil disobedience! (Sorry Sylve!)
Our bus journey up to Copacabana started early and the guys seemed to be in a rush to get moving. Once we climbed out of La Paz and into El Alto on the Altiplano we soon realised why. The main roads out of La Paz to the west were all blocked by the residents of El Alto, who had brought their gas cannisters out onto the main roads and had arranged them into lines across the three lane roads. This is obviously a common occurrence in El Alto. The bus drivers certainly knew all about it and had a few back roads up their sleeves. The good people of El Alto were ready for them. On the back streets we passed some women who were cheerfully breaking up the road surface and spraying water on the mud track being used by the traffic, no doubt with the aim of turning it into an impassable quagmire. The police and army were on hand
Roadblock
The people of El Alto have their say but did nothing but marshal traffic, such as they could.
Why the blockades? We thought that the people of El Alto may have been protesting at the conditions in their city, and well they might - some parts of the area contain shanty housing that is indicative of horrendous poverty. However, in this case the gas cannisters were the clue. They were protesting at not having any gas available for their homes. This has been a long running issue in Bolivia and it's sad that a country that has considerable reserves of oil and natural gas cannot arrange for the energy requirements of its people.
Enough of the political diatribe! On to Copacabana, which is a very pleasant town in the shores of Lake Titicaca (not to be confused with the Brazilian beach of the same name). It’s very much on the traveller trail and lots of them have turned up, enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and decided to stay. They busk on the streets and sell handmade jewellery.
In keeping with the scale of this continent, Lake Titicaca is pretty darn big. It's quite incredible that the lake is at 3,800m, higher than all the ski resorts
in the Alps. That made our trek up to Lake Titicaca a little more strenuous than we had imagined. We left Copacabana early the next morning and set out on a 17km trek to Yampupata, from which it is a short boat ride to the Isla del Sol. We were carrying full backpacks of camping equipment and the altitude was soon taking its toll as we trekked up hill and down dale. However, the walk took us through some beautiful scenery, small agricultural settlements and up a steep shortcut via an old Incan road. Five hours later we were in Yampupata and hired a boat to take us onto the island.
We landed at Pilko Kaina at the ruins of an Incan palace. Another slog took us up to the main settlement at Yumani and from there we descended to the other side of the island at Japipi. We camped there for the night in a field that had previously been inhabited by a lone donkey. As night drew in the clouds twisted into a thunderstorm and the sky let fly. We were pelted for 11 hours without letup. Our new tent, the Hubba Hubba, held firm and we
Camping at Japipi
All hail the Hubba Hubba! spent quite a comfortable night listening to the crack of thunder and a cascade of rain.
The rain finally stopped at about 11am, Suse having thrashed Tom at cards more times than is decent. The local head honcho came over to see whether we had survived the storm intact and was much amused to share his name with one of the campers (no, his name was not Susie). He pointed us a route to the north up the steep hill and we attempted to follow his directions. We got it pretty wrong and scrambled up a steep rocky hill for about 40 mins - that got the heart started! However, we spotted two young girls herding two donkeys and some sheep on the right track and soon made it up to a path near the top of the hill.
The trek to the north of the island followed an old Incan path and while it can be said that they were not very accommodating to overburdened backpackers (the tracks go straight over hills rather than around them), the views of the bays on the west of the island were stunning and well worth the exertion. Two hours later
El Laberinto
The Chincana ruins we made it to the Chilcana ruins, which occupy an amazing location, perched on a cliff top above a sandy beached cove. The ruins consist of a maze of stone walls known as El Laberintho. People used to come here from all over the Incan empire to worship. You can quite imagine the awe that the maze would have inspired as they rose through the labyrinth to the central focus of the palace.
Behind is the rock of the Puma, which contains a niche from which it is said that the sun first rose. Once again the weather was closing in so we made for the port on the northeast of the island, Cha´llampampa. As we walked east, the northern horizon shone a brilliant turquoise colour beneath dark clouds. Earlier in the day the coast of Peru to the west had appeared to shimmer the reflections of hundreds of mirrors. It was quite easy to see why the Incas had considered the island to have been so mystical.
Cha´llampampa turned out to be quite a desolate place. With the help of some local lads we finally found lodging with the fantastically friendly Señor Ramos at Hostel San Francisco.
While we sat outside there was a knock at the gate. Tom asked Señora Ramos whether it had been Ramon, one of the kids who had helped us. This was misunderstood as "jamon" and led to delirium amongst the assembled family. If only it had been a large ham at the door! We hadn’t eaten properly for 24 hours and could not find anyone in the village set up to provide us with dinner. We made do with three oranges, some peanuts, biscuits and crackers and passed out. The one interlude in the night was at 12.30 when one of the locals serenaded us with what must be the most drunken trumpet playing that we have ever heard! He was eventually told to shut up by one of our host family.
In the morning we got the collectivo boat back to Copabana with some locals. It was a slow, chilly two hour ride but was fascinating to share some time with the people of Cha´llampampa, who seemed a cheerful bunch. It was interesting to note that the Bolivian flag was only hoisted close in to port. There is obviously a degree of independence in their mindset.
We’re back
in La Paz now in the terminally kitsch Hotel Milton (our room has a cracking hotch potch of four garish wallpapers). Tonight we welcome the arrival of Mr Doog Radford, who is going to be travelling with us for a few weeks (a bit of trekking in the Andes and crossing the Salar de Uyuni into Chile). Will keep you updated!
T&S
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Campbell
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Music and passion were always in fashion at the copa...copacabana
Ahh the great Barry Manilow, how timeless his words. Passion clearly still in fashion this spring season in Copacabana as evidenced by dashing beard moustache combo Tom. Lake Titicaca sounds amazing, and rainforest too. Looking forward to lots more piccies and stories from the Intrepid Two. Loving the Jamon/Ramon cartoonish food hallucination double take. Hi to Doug too when he gets there. Love, Cam