Her name was Lola......

Copacabana was a lovely small town, with nothing in it but dirty hippies making bracelets and bad cafes filled with gringos, but it was a great place to catch a boat to the Isla del Sol, an island on Lake Titicaca. The main purpose for visiting this island is to hike all around it along these small trails, and see inca ruins. Unfortunately for us, there was no ATM in Cobacabana, and we did not have enough Bolivian money to stay the required two nights, so instead we took the boat out in the afternoon and returned early the next morning, having done no hiking. Very efficient trip. It was definitely worth going, even for just one night. The town there had no cars, only small pathways. Instead of cars honking non-stop we got to hear donkeys hee-hawing. We did go for a small walk just outside of the town in the evening, watched a gorgeous sunset and then realized we were completely lost! Actually technically we thought we new excatly where we were until a farmer and his family come over the crest of the hill, and informed us that it was three hours to the next town if we kept heading in the same direction. We got back to our hostal safely, and enjoyed a good nights sleep on a saggy mattress (which we would find to be the norm in Bolivia) sitting on a bed made out of dried reeds! We then headed down this old inca staircase to catch what we thought would be our large boat home, instead we found a dinky boat fitting only 8 people. As we settled in (below water level) for our 2 hour ride to the mainland, we realized that the boat was leaking from on the the front windows. The seas...er lake was rough that day, knocking us back and forth as we tried desperately to hold our backpacks above the inch of water collecting in the bottom of the boat. Then a sputter, motor is out.....a few stressful moments later our captain had her up and running.....and by that I mean still coninuosly sounding like it was going to die. Finally we made it a shore and caught a bus to La Paz.



In order to get to La Paz from Copacabana you have to cross a section of Lake Titicaca. I had seen this on the map and had foolishly assumed that this would involve a bridge or a large ferry.......apparently not. As we pulled up to the edge of the water we were ordered off the bus, and told to buy tickets to cross. As we were buying the tickets we realize the ticket was for us to take a small passenger boat across, and our bus (with all of our belongings) was already driving on to a bus-sized raft powered by a small outboard motor. A slightly nerve racking boat ride, but enjoyable nontheless.



As we drove through El Alto (suburb area surrounding La Paz) I was unimpressed, until suddenly the earth drops away, displaying a giant crevass, every square inch filled with buildings of various quality. It was a beautiful site to see a city built up and down such steep hillsides, however it also meant a hot and sweaty trek to find a hostal. Finally we settled in...and settle we did. After an amazing, busy two weeks with my parent we were ready to get back to our leisurely long-term travelors pace. We spent 5 days exploring the city. We saw miles and miles of street markets, visited a great museum of musical instruments (they let you play them!), ate lots of fried chicken (a favorite fast food of Bolivians), drank a few litres of freshly pressed orange juice from street vendors (so delicious, and so cheap - only 50 cents a glass), and went to a wrestling match where women (wearing traditional Quechua dress) wrestled. Our hostel had a kitchen (although no dishsoap or fridge), so we were able to cook a few meals and meet some cool people. I think we both really enjoyed La Paz, but were ready to explore a little deeper (and lower) into Bolivia.



We took a small van to the city of Corroico, a small mountainside town. We found a great hostel which had a beautiful view of the surrounding valley and mountains, and a pool!!!! We spent the day by the pool reading and then headed into the town in the afternoon. I think my favorite local interaction happened in this town. Pretty much every town in South America has a Plaza de Armas (a central city square), a relic left from time of spanish conquest. The really cool thing about these plazas, is that people actually hang out in them. Especially in the early evenings you will find people of all ages out and about, socializing. This town had a particularily large number of kids playing in its' square. As we settled down to play some cards we were approached my a little boy, who didn't say anything, but just kept edging his way closer and closer to us, until he was right squished next to me. We thought he was so interested in our card game, I kept showing him my cards, Matt telling him how he was beating me by so much.......then I noticed how close our bag of cheezies was to the cards. I offered him some, he grabbed a handful and gleefully ran away. He came back again and again, even once the bag was empty he still hung around. Also joining our posse was two scary looking dogs who settled in for a good nap amongst us, and followed us around town for the entire rest of the evening. Later another little girl came up to us and starting asking all sorts of questions, and proudly telling us "teacher", the only english word she new.


From Corroico we hopped in the back of a pick-up truck with a bunch of local school kids and made our way down the 8km cobblestone road to a junction where we waited for our bus to Rurrenbaque. It was incredibly hot, and we found the only spot of shade next to a concrete ditch, and parked our stuff. After a few moments the stench of hot drying urine became overwhelming. We stayed put, not wanted to stand in the sun, that is until a bus stopped on the side of the road letting all the passengers off for a quick break. About 20 men then headed just passed us and proceeded to all pee on the side of the ditch. All of a sudden a little urine-free sun didn't seem so bad.


You may have heard that Bolivia is home to the famously dubbed "worlds most dangerous road". This winding dirt road (from La Paz to Corroico) has now been bi-passed by a new paved highway, and is typically only used for mountain biking tours. No one mentions that past Corroico the road continues, but the new highway does not. I have never been more terrified in my life. For a solid two hours the road is barely wide enough for one large vehicle, but there are trucks and buses going both ways. Everytime we ran head on with another vehicle we would stop and back-up until in a curve wide enough to pass, all the while monitering how the tires were mere inches from the 200m+ drop off. As the terror wore off, the monotony of the 15hr+ bus ride settled in. We popped a few Gravol, and had a restless uncomfortable sleep, interrupted by midnight security checkpoints forcing everyone off the bus. We arrived in Rurrenbaque at 7 in the morning, and headed for the hostel for a well earned nap. Our main reason for going to this town because it is a good base for Jungle and Pampas tours of the Rainforest.

Our tour left the next morning, started with a 4 hour drive in a land cruiser in the muddiest road I've ever seen. It felt like you were in a video game, with the truck careening every which way in the mud. I think that Disneyland should make a ride called "Traveling in Bolivia", and you would be in a car like the Indiana Jones ride going across all of the worst road conditions with blaring salsa music, and it would smell like baby urine and sweat! It would be perfect, because as you were waiting in line for the ride to start you could have guys walking along saying "cinqo minutos, uno momentito amigo".

Ok, I got a little off topic. It was wet season when we were there, so the Pampas were covered in water. For three days we rode in a canoe along "pathways" through the tops of trees. We saw so much wildlife, it made a recent trip to the Santiago zoo seem pretty pathetic. There were three types of monkeys there, the most friendly being these really cute yellow guys who would climb right onto our boat for bananas, one actually bit Matt on the hand!!!! I'm pretty sure he has ebola now, hahaha. Ebola is not a laughing matter. Other highlights of the trip included swimming with fresh water dolphins, holding an anaconda, having alligators crawl right up to our cabins, and spotting tons of birds, including toucans and storks!!!! It was definately worth the terrifying bus ride. The bus back to La Paz took us 18hrs, and arrived at 6am in the morning, ugh!
Since then we have taken many more buses, and seen many more things. Unfortunately (or not for you) I have to go now. Matt and I are in Santiago, Chile, about to go to a farm and volunteer (with the WWOOF program) for a few weeks. Once we get back to civilization we will have a mere few week left in our trip........but hopefully still have time for some updates. Thanks for checking the blog. Hope you all are well
-Caroline



From C