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Published: February 28th 2007
View from our room
Unfortunately the clouds dont allow the snow capped mountians in the background to be seen- but they were there!!!Greetings folks
We are going to try something a bit different today due to the lack of photos and put several places into one blog.
Copacabana:
After we cycled down the worlds most dangerous road we went on a short trip for a few days to Copacabana on the shores of lake Titicaca the highest lake in the world at 3800m. We stayed at Copacabana for a few days which is a really beautiful place. Then we jumped on a boat to Isla del Sol.
The Isla del Sol is an island and in the middle of Lake Titicaca which makes it really beautiful but also very high and somewhat short on oxygen. The boat dropped us at the bottom of a giant staircase and carrying about 20kg worth of backpack it was very hard to get up and we both needed several breaks on the way up the hill. We stopped (as did most of the boat) at the 1st hostel up the hill and caught our breath. The reason most people go to the Isla del Sol is to see the birthplace of inca culture. This is at the north end of the island 6hrs round
Coroico
The view from our room. It was a beautiful place to have a few chilled out days trip at over 4000m from where we were!!!! We set out on our walk and it was pretty hard with the lack of oxygen making things difficult, however when we got to the ruins it was all worth it. We saw the place where the 2 first incas rose from the lake and also a giant rock which as it turns out was the birthplace of the sun (This suprised Peter as he thought it came from his arse!!)
La paz:
After our trip to copacabana we went back to La Paz which is a crazy city, its the worlds highest city and is really an experience all to itself. The city is set inside a giant crater and when you arrive you work your way down the walls of the crater into the centre of the city, this also makes it a very steep place and being so high it can be very tiring. La Paz is also amazing as you can buy anything you want on the street- absolutely anything. We only found one supermarket the whole time we were there and nearly every footpath is covered in market stalls.
Things you can buy include -
Bolivian roads...
This is our bus going across Lake Titicaca. We are not too sure how it managed to cross- but it did somehow DVDS, suits, pants, leather jackets, stun guns, belts, books, light globes, hardware, computer software, physiotherapy braces for any joint, weights, toothpaste, hair products, sunglasses, kids toys, games, hats, socks, underwear and anything else.
If that wasnt enough they had a witches market where any potion could be aquired however the main trade was in DRIED LLAMA FETUSES thats right apparently you burn these outside your house to keep away bad sprits. You could also select from a large range of cats paws which the lady promised me would bring us money and good luck but unfortunately we had to decline.
Oruro:
After La paz we headed to carnivale in Oruro which was a pretty cool experience, with the costumes and dancing being pretty impressive unfortunately no photos as Peters camera was stolen but we are getting some sent to us so hopefully we can show you some one day. The weekend also gave us an insight into bolivian planning as we were told to meet at the bus station but the buses left from the train station which we found out after calling the tour leader. They also left 2 hours late and on the way back 1
Lake crossing
Many of these ferries were named the titanic. Luckily our bus with all of our belonings on it was not on the titanic. hour and 45 min late. This didnt really matter as our driver spent most of the return trip on the wrong side of the road at 400km/h making up for any lost time.
Puno, Peru:
After Oruro we left Bolivia to head to Puno on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, the main reason most people go to Puno is to visit the floating reed islands on the lake. The islands are made entirely of a floating bed of reeds, with houses, boats and souveniers being made of reeds. The people even eat the reeds which taste a bit like celery and the reeds even clean your teeth while you eat them. This was a pretty cool place to visit and our guide was telling us that sometimes when big storms come up the islands get blown all over the lake.
After Puno we headed to Arequipa further north in Peru
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Mel
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Stinky Reeds
I've heard that the Reed Islands are a bit stinky, it that true?