We arrive in La Paz, we are now around 3600m above sea level
and altitude sickness is waiting to get the best of us. We are still with Jen
and Pete as we did a 24 hour journey from Vallegrande to here. We trek around
trying to find a good but cheap place to stay, after several dives of hostels
we decide to head to a hostel across town which had good reviews but wasn’t the
cheapest. Arriving there me and Carol were happy to have a comfy bed that was
well maintained, shame the hostel it was in was a party hostel.
Over the next few days we explored Le Paz, going to the Coca
Museum, Contemporary Art Museum, Musical Instrument Museum to name a few, as
well as perusing the market street of the witches market (which sold dry Lama
foetuses) and the local artisanal shops. It was a busy City not so enjoyable as
it had nowhere to relax, it was however are first real feeling of Christmas as
the town was building its Christmas tree and putting up Christmas lights. My
final activity of Le Paz was to cycle down Death Road, its not so death any
more as they built a new road so only tourist use the road now. The experience
was amazing cycling on a gravel winding road with a sheer drop beside you, the views were beautiful!
Take a good look at the goods for sale!
Christmas!
That evening I return to find Carol not feeling too well,
making sure she has water and some lemonade, I finally make it out to get food.
Unfortunately I decided to go for a cheap chicken and chips. That night both me
and Carol were violently ill!
The bus ride to Copacabana
The next morning not wanting to stay in Le Paz we druged
ourselves out of bed and got the bus to Copacabana, that sits on the shore of Lake
Titicaca. We make it and found a Hostel, we push the boat out and get a private room
with lake views. That evening however the drugs wore off and we were ill once
more! The following day we rested and tried to get ourselves right again and
planned the trip to the Isla del Sol (Inca birth place of the sun). Refreshed
after a good night’s sleep we head down to the port and got a boat to the north
side of the Island. From there we walked around the coast through old temple
ruins (which looked like a farm?) to a ceremonial table (where they sacrificed
children) and another temple at the most
northerly part of the Island. From there we headed south over a high peak of
just over 4000m above sea level (me and Carol struggled to breath!), until we
reach the main town on the Island. We found some cheap accommodation, bought
some drinks and watched the sunset before having some fresh trout from the
lake. The next next morning we woke early to watch sunrise but the weather was
awful, so we watched it out of the window before returning to bed. The rest of the day
we saw some more Inca ruins, including steps to the main port,
before we got the boat back to the main land.
The sacrifice table, don't worry kids the Spanish killed all the Incas!
We had returned sooner than expected, so we decided to hit
the road straight away and get the bus to Peru and the other side of the lake.
Leaving at one we made it to Puno in Peru in 3 hours, walked off the bus got a
hostel through a tout and we were set for a few days here.
The following day we went on a tour to Sallustani where they
have these massive funerary towers where they mummified their dead. The place was
amazing, with great panoramic views of the surrounding lake and countryside.
The next day we got up early and took a boat tour to the floating islands of
Uros. There were 42 islands altogether all made from reed in which four families
lived on each island. It was really interesting to see but the tour was one big
drive for you to spend money or give money to the locals (exit through the gift
shop and all that!)
The next day we head to the bus station once more and get a
bus to Arequipa, to Colca Canyon which is around 1200m deep and to see the frozen Inca
child!
Just in case you thought Carol had stopped stroking every dog she sees, here's some more....
