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Published: December 6th 2007
Isla Del Sol
Daniella. "Tiene chocolate?"Navigating the highest navigable lake in the world was next on the itinerary. Lake Titicaca sits at 3,812m above sea level and is South America's largest lake. It has a maximum length of 190km and a maximum width of 80km. Peru claims 65% of Lake Titicaca and the remaining 35% is situated in Bolivia. We spent our last night in Peru in the town of Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. We were expecting a harsh winter climate and so we were surprised to feel the sun beating down on us when we stepped off the bus from Arequipa. We changed into our summer gear upon our arrival and headed into town for a spot of lunch. One hour later the thunder started and we decided to make a run for it before we got soaked on the way home! TOO LATE! The hailstones lashed down on us, in our flimsy t-shirts. They were huge, causing excruciating pain every time we were hit! Also, running at 3,800m is not much fun. It took my poor over exerted lungs a few hours to recover.
As these were our last 2 days in Peru, we were rapidly running out of sols.
We figured the best option would be to take US dollars from the ATM as we could use them in Bolivia, and we didn't want to be stuck with loads of sol coins. This turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as we practically had to beg people to accept dollars when we ran out of sols. We ended up paying over the odds a few times too, because of exaggerated exchange rates. The slighest tear or folded back corner of a dollar note rendered it completely worthless!
The next morning, all dried off, we went on a tour to the Islas Flotantes, home of the native Uros people. The first thing I heard when I stepped onto the island was the most boggerish Irish accent I have ever heard, "How de FUCK do dey make dose booats Tomaaas?"!!!! It's always nice to hear an Irish accent... I guess...! These islands are made from totora reeds and really are "floating"! The Uros people also use these reeds to build their houses, boats, for food and crafts for tourists. They have literally built their lives around the totora reeds and as a result, they are forced to rebuild
Puno
Local woman on market day their houses and boats once a year (to avoid finding themselves homeless). The Uros people began their strange floating existence centuries ago in an effort to isolate themselves from the Incas. Several hundred people still live on the islands and eke out a living from fishing and tourism. Although the islands are a tourist mecca, I didn't feel that the lives of the Uros people have been adversely affected by the hundreds of tourists who visit them every day. The people were some of the friendliest we have met so far. They make a living from tourists buying their handicrafts and didn't seem to take advantage of us, (unlike other towns where you can't take a picture without handing over some dosh). Life on the islands is tough nonetheless, and an average of 12% of kids born there die and rheumatism is very prevalent. The winter temperatures can plumet to -10C.
In the afternoon we reluctantly left Peru behind and hopped on a bus to Copacabana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. The bus journey was reminiscent of a Bus Eireann journey to Cavan... all we could hear were Irish accents! The views of the surrounding altiplanos were
magnificent, they seemed to stretch for hundreds of miles. After a brief stop at the border to obtain our Peruvian exit stamps, we walked across the frontier and arrived in Bolivia. Onwards we went to Copacabana which was stunning. The Bolivian side of the lake is much cleaner and tranquil than its Peruvian counterpart. We stayed at one of the best hotels in Bolivia (according to Lonely Planet) and booked ourselves a suite with our own private sitting room with huge windows overlooking the lake. It was just incredible. The hotel was fabulous, very low key and quiet with only a few rooms. It also boasted one of the best restaurants in Bolivia and we spent many's an hour in there taking in the views while feasting on fine cuisine. This didn't help my obsession with food that has characterised the last couple of months. Mark is genuinely impressed with how much food I can put away these days. Most of the time, I am out eating him! (especially at breakfast). He finds that the altitude supresses his hunger, while I am the complete opposite. I just can't stop eating! 6 pancakes for breakfast? Bring it on! 3 course lunch
and dinner? Yes please! There just aren't enough meals of the day...
We spent two nights in gorgeous Hotel La Cupula in Copacabana just chilling out, drinking tea, eating and enjoying the beautiful vistas and sunsets. We then moved on to Isla del Sol. The island was like a Mediteranean Utopia. We got off the boat to discover that we had to climb up 30 minutes worth of steep Inca steps to reach our accomodation for the evening! The local kids come to meet the tourists from the boat and show them the way to their hotel or hostel. Young Rodrigo started to show us the way, but after about 20 steps I had to give up. It's one thing climbing a mountain at over 5,000m with only a bottle of water on your back, put it's quite another to climb steep Inca steps at 4,000m when you have 18kilos of luggage weighing you down! There was really no choice but for Mark to "volunteer" to be porter for the afternoon. The poor boy had to drag himself and his huge backpack up the hill in the sweltering heat with Rodrigo leading the way, while I sat at the
bottom waiting for him to come back for mine! He reached our hostel after 30 mins of hard slog, checked in, dropped his bags, ran back down the hill, and did it all over again with my bag. I still have no idea how he did it, and he didn't complain once. If he hadn't been there, I would still be sitting at the bottom of those steps with my backpack, not even able to lift it on to my shoulders...
I think even Mark will admit that it was worth every step to get to where we were staying. Our hostel "Casa de Don Ricardo" was perched at the top of a hill, overlooking the lake and surrounding mountains. We really felt like we were holidaying in the Mediteranean. The lake sparkled and the water was the clearest, bluest, water I have seen. You really have to see the photos for this part. We spent the afternoon walking around the island and playing with some of the local kids. They were really cute, and the first thing they asked us was "tiene chocolate?". We did have lots of chocolate in fact, but judging by their unhealthy looking teeth,
and the absence of an island dentist, we figured chocolate was the last thing those kids needed! Instead we danced with them and helped them fly their kites. We also met a lovely Italian couple who were on their honeymoon travelling the world for two months. A local woman who ran the hostel cooked the four of us a lovely homely dinner and we were all so tired after the trek to get there, we were fast asleep by 9pm. During the night there was a cracker of a storm, the lightning was just outside our doors - it kept us awake for a while but it was worth it.
The next day, it was time to leave the lake and make our way to La Paz. It had snowed on the mountains that evening, and we awoke to find that we were no longer in our Mediteranean paradise but in Scandanavia. It was even more beautiful than the previous day. Back in Copacabana, while waiting for the bus, we ran into some Aussie guys we had met in Lima. One of them was suffering from severe food poisoning and I'm sure the last thing he wanted to do
Uros Floating Islands
Mark on the straw boat was sit on a smelly Bolivian bus for 4 hours. The poor guy was getting sick into a plastic bag the whole way to La Paz. Luckily, we were in much better health and really enjoyed the part of the trip where the bus has to cross the lake in a boat! See the photos! Mark also managed to pick up a t shirt with Evo Morales' face on it... he has been a huge hit with the locals so far as a result! The Bolivians just love Evo, especially in La Paz. However, his support has become unstable over the last few days. At the moment there are huge protests going on in Bolivia over a proposed constitutional overhaul which would grant Morales an indefinite number of terms in office. Morales says the new constitution will give Bolivia's indigenous majority more political power but the critics disagree. Luckily, La Paz hasn't really been affected but the constitutional and governmental capital, Sucre has been devastated. The protesters set fire to Sucre's jail allowing at least 100 prisoners to escape. The pollice were even ordered to withdraw from Sucre to avoid more confrontations. We´ve heard some nightmare stories from fellow travellers
who have been stuck for hours at road blocks adding 10 hours or more to journeys, or those who haven´t been able to enter Cochabamba, Sucre or Potosi because of strikes and the absence of police.
We stayed in a really cool hostel in La Paz. More or less everyone ends up there, as it has the lure of a free beer every night, a beer spa and it's own microbrewery on the premises! The drive to La Paz was really impressive. Driving through El Alto on the outskirts of La Paz really opens your eyes to the poverty of this country (Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, and El Alto is the fastest growing city in South America). It really is just a huge sprawling filthy mess. And then you turn a corner and crest the top of a mountain and La Paz (3,600m) is spread out before you in an enormous bowl, with the snowy peak of Nevado Illimani (6,400m) as a backdrop. Very dramatic. We had a few drinks in the hostel bar that night but Mark and another foolish guy made the fatal mistake of agreeing to haul a 60kg barrel of beer
up 8 flights of stairs... for a free beer! It sounded like the most horrific job of all time... it didnt even have handles so they had to roll it up the stairs, step by step. Definately worth more than a free beer I think. Health and safety laws are obviously a foreign concept in Bolivia.
We began our first day in La Paz by wandering down to San Pedro Prison. I have been dying to see this place since I read Rusty Young's incredible book, "Marching Powder". This Prison is the craziest in the world. The inmates have to purchase their own cells. If you have alot of money, you can live in absolute luxury in the most expensive part of the prison. The poor inmates live in terrible conditions. There are restaurants and shops inside the prison and the inmates are generally free to do what they want inside the prison walls. The prisoners' families live inside the prison with them. Prisoners are also allowed to vote and politicians campaign inside the prison. The most potent cocaine in Bolivia is produced inside the prison and this is how many of the inmates make a living. Ten years
ago it was common for tourists to visit the prison and pay inmates to give them a guided tour. There are no guards inside the prison, but during the day San Pedro is relatively safe, as the inmates just go on with their daily lives (some go to work in the shops, etc). The guards on the outside are easily bribed and hundreds of tourists went on guided tours of the prison every year. Some even stayed over night. The inmates can also pay a guard to bring them on a night out in La Paz! Seriously, you should read this book. It's a real eye opener! It is much more difficult to get into the prison as a tourist nowadays, as the Governor has tried to clamp down on tourists buying cocaine from the inmates.
We sat outside San Pedro for about an hour, just people watching. I LOVED it. We could see all the prisoners inside in the court yard and they were talking to us through the gates. We saw all the kids leaving to go to school and wives coming out to do some shopping. We couldn't get over the amount of people coming and
going through the gates without the guards giving them a second glance! At this stage I was dying to get in there and talk to an inmate. We had heard from fellow Gringos that a Dutch inmate was giving tours (he tried to smuggle 7kilos of coke out of Bolivia, how stupid can you get!) and that an Irish guy had recently gone to see him. Mark was adamant that he wasn't going in, even if we had a good contact. I didn't really want to go alone, so I had to give up on my dream, but even being at the gates was a fascinating experience.
La Paz is an amazing city. We really enjoyed walking around the crowded and noisy streets. There is never a dull moment and there is always so much going on. We spent alot of time in the markets and haggled away for hours! The streets are filled with shoe shiners who wear balaclavas. (many of them are ashamed as they have to clean shoes to feed their families). On our second night, I learned the lesson that excessive drinking at high altitude is not a good idea. I won't go into details...
but I have learned from my mistake! On our third night, we went to a snazzy restaurant, which Gregory had recommended. It is widely regarded as the best in La Paz so of course, we couldn't resist! We arrived in a taxi and we were met by a concierge who opened our door and guided us into the plush bar. A pianist created a suitably affluent atmosphere (we were in our shorts, tshirts, and trainers!) and the service was impeccable. We both ordered steak (a hefty 3 euros!). It was really funny, as the poshest restaurant in La Paz was full of dirty backpackers, willing to splash out on a fancy dinner! On the way out, we were promptly flagged a taxi and brought back to our "Adventure Brew Hostel"! A night to remember. Classy.
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MichaelM.
non-member comment
Snap!
I just decided to look back over your blog entries to see which ones I had missed while my internet was down. Great piece here on Lake Titicaca and La Paz. Yes the photography was marvellous but especially interesting in that you took shots of the native people. I also happened to note that your dad made his comments on the very evening he was dining in the Olde Post Inn.