Bolivia: Cochabamba, La Paz, Copacabana and Isla del Sol

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So I´m a little behind in my blog entries!!

Arriving in Bolivia seemed to really take the wind out of me, literally. The altitude in Uyuni, La Paz and Copacabana were so outrageous: at times over 4500 metres above sea level. Walking up a slight incline feels like a marathon, and I ended up feeling like an extremely out-of-shape person with emphyzema!

I was so lucky to be travelling with my new friend, Sarah, from Salta all the way up to Cochabamba. We were both headed to Cochabamba to do some volunteer work: she through an organization called Sustainable Bolivia, and I, through a friend-of-a-friend, who had connections with some cultural organizations in Cochabamba.

Unfortunately, my volunteer work fell through, as my contact was experiencing health problems and couldn´t get in touch with me. It all worked out for the best though, because this gave me time to see other parts of Bolivia, and then loop my way across to Chile and then down the coast of Chile (to see some beaches!), and then make my way across to Buenos Aires to catch my flight.

Bolivia was an overwhelming experience on so many levels - not just in terms of altitude. It was so hard to get used to the culture of street commerce: everywhere you go, you are surrounded by dozens or hundreds of merchants on the streets, selling pop, candy, snacks, produce, and all kinds of other goods as well. A lot of the vendors are elderly, and you can´t help but feel that it would be an exhausting way to spend your day at the age of 70 or 80, sitting or standing on streetcorners selling your wares.

Cochabamba was a beautifully green city, and only at 2500 metres, so we felt less exhausted there. The city is surrounded by tall green hills so there are nice views in all directions, and there are colourful flowers bursting out from the trees and from the fences of peoples´front yards. There is an abundance of fresh fruit and veggies in Cochabamba, so Sarah and I had a great time sampling the fruit. We were so unused to having so much fruit at hand that we started hoarding - at one point, the little table in our hotel room was completely covered with bananas, apples, oranges, grapes, peanuts, tomatoes and bread!! It took us a while to figure out that we didn´t have to hoard anything.... just step over to any street corner to buy some more!

Another great thing about Cochabamba and La Paz is the fresh fruit juice sold on the street. On every street corner there is at least one person with a little manual juicer, and a cartfull of oranges and grapefruits. For about 25 cents they squeeze you a delicious glass of fresh juice - that´s way cheaper than the bottled water! Ah, I will miss that juice...

I spent 1.5 days living with a host family in Cochabamba before realizing that I was going to leave the city. And it was a pretty traumatic experience! I was living with a couple who had a 3-year old child, and I don´t think they were quite prepared for hosting. On the second day I was there, the wife still didn´t remember my name! And I don´t think she ever cooked, or cleaned the bathroom, and there was virtually no food in the house. Considering that I was paying 100$US per week to be there, it was a pretty awful situation! So, after a few days in Cochabamba, I took off for La Paz - this time on my own, as my friend Sarah was staying in Cochabamba for a month.

Travelling alone in Bolivia was a challenge! I never felt in danger, but it is very harrowing travelling on your own in Bolivia, as you are never sure what is going on and it is always easier to have someone else to consult with. The buses are slow, and tend to break down. My bus to La Paz broke down twice, but only briefly each time.

I felt quite overwhelmed by La Paz - a really bustling city, with tiny sidewalks where you get squeezed up against the passing traffic as it whizzes by. Everywhere you go, you see the distinctly-clad Aymara women with their two long black braids, decorated with bundles of beads at the ends, and with these prim little bowler hats perched on top of their heads, and wearing poofy colourful skirts and carrying bundles of belongings on their backs in a colourful fabric sling.

The public transit consists of tiny vans and collective taxis zipping by everywhere, with someone inside the van repeatedly yelling the names of the destinations, trying to attract customers - the effect of which is a caucaphony of yelling from every street corner. They repeat the names of the destinations so fast that I´m not sure how anyone can make out what they´re saying!

After 2 nights in La Paz I was ready for something a little quieter, so I took the bus to Copacabana which is located on the famous Lake Titicaca, an important spiritual place from the Inca world.

I took the boat over to Isla del Sol and spent a night there - a very tranquil, almost other-worldly place with very basic amenities. Unfortunately I got another stomach bug while I was there - this time in the middle of the freezing cold night in a shared bathroom with NO toilet seat and limited toilet paper... definitely the low point of my trip!!

Yet somehow I felt better the next day and managed to walk across the whole island by myself, which was an extremely peaceful experience. When I caught a boat back across to the south side, to my surprise, the president of Bolivia (Morales) was giving a speech there! Everyone from the island was gathered to hear him speak, and there was a great ado, with media, bodyguards, a huge fancy ship to ferry him there (probably the only ship the Bolivian navy has!), and even some guards in diving gear for good measure!! So I got some good photos of Morales as well as the residents who were gathered there.

I returned to Copacabana and decided to spend an extra night there to recover, since I´d landed a cute little single room with my own bathroom in a nice hotel close to the lake. I enjoyed an afternoon lounging in a hammock, and took a walk, but unfortunately I started to feel ill again and spent a sleepless night with intense chills.

So I decided to get back to civilization as fast as possible and somehow made it back to La Paz on the bus ride - which includes a very SHAKY mini boat ride on a very ramshackle vessel - and spent one more night back in La Paz before heading over to Chile.

I was really looking forward to leaving Bolivia and returning to the relatively developed and sleek country of Chile. I think I never really got over the culture shock of Bolivia: the people everywhere, the sounds, the elevation, the poverty. And did I mention, the cold?? It is quite cold in Bolivia at night - I think it went down close to freezing some of the nights I was there - and of course there is no heat.

So, I hopped on a 9-hour bus to Arica, which is located at the very top of Chile at the border with Peru. It seemed like the bus would never get there! Like all buses in Bolivia, there is no bathroom on board, not a fun thing when you´ve been ill. At night we stopped at a restaurant and I went out to use to the bathroom - only to realize that there was NO light in the bathroom (it was pitch black) as well as the usual problems (no toilet seat, no toilet paper, no sink, no soap, no towels...) hello Chile!!!

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