Two weekends ago when we first got to Bolivia we went to Copacabana, the town on the edge of Lake Titicaca. We had to take a bus from Cusco to Copacabana and we were told that is was a direct bus, but this is South America so nothing goes as they say it will. We left on our overnight bus and were woken up at 6:30 a.m. by the driver to tell us we had to get off the bus. Looking around we realized we were not in a town, we hadn´t crossed a border and gotten stamped and we deduced we were definitely not in Bolivia. The driver explained that we were going to get in a little van to take us the rest of the way, which was all included in our ticket so not to pay anyone. So Bianca and I load into the front seat of the van as there were already 12 people squished in the back. The new driver turns the key, the car doesn´t start, which elicits angry spanish yelling from our "guide lady." Bianca and I are asked to just climb out for a second so he can fiddle with the ignition, with is apparently under the front seat in these cars. He says its great so we climb back in only to have the car not start again, the yelling does start, and we climb back out with all our bags. Finally after about 5 minutes of tinkering the car starts and we are on our way to Copacabana.
Crossing the Bolivian border was easier than we expected. We did have to walk across the border. The vans don´t cross so we had to get out of the van, walk up a huge hill to get to the immigrations offices to get stamped, then walk up more hills to get to a van on the other side.
Copacabana was a cool little town, and Lake Titicaca was AMAZING. I wasn´t prepared for how huge and crystal blue it would be. I loved every second of being there. After a quiet night in Copacabana, we took a three hour boat ride across the lake to an island called Isla del Sol. We got dropped off on the North side of the island so we could hike to the South side. We heard the hike would take about 5 hours so we were prepared for a full day adventure. The idea is to climb up to the very top of the small mountain and walk along the top of the island to the other side. Somehow we followed a wrong trail and ended up making our own, very unique way across the island, including jaunts into someones pig pen where we were chased by a very angry dog. It was all good fun and we ended up making it to the other end in three hours instead of five. The view from the walk was incredible the whole time, and since we took a strange way we also ended up walking throught the little villages and getting to see the way the people lived on the island. There are no water lines and no cars. All the water is brought to the island in old gas cans and then carried up dirt paths by donkeys. We had another interesting toilet experience too. This one didn´t have a handle for flushing, you just poured water from a bucket next to the toilet in after you had gone and somehow it all disappears. Strange, but it probably saves water since there is so little available on the island.
That night we had a delicious pizza dinner and watched the sun set, then headed back to our hostel to relax. The next morning we got up and ate breakfast at a cute little terrace cafe where one lady was the hostess, waitress and cook. She was also quite talkative and told us how Americans are great travelers and very clean, but Isrealis and Bolivians are not. It was nice to finally here something positive about Americans, because there have been times Bianca and I thought about telling people we are Canadian. After breakfast we headed back on the boat to Copacabana and hung out for the day before hopping on a bus to La Paz.
The bus to La Paz was also supposed to be direct, so once again Bianca and I were surprised when we were woken up and told to get out of the bus. We asked some Bolivian women what was going on and they explained that we had to cross a strait, and we would go on little boats and the bus would go on its own boat. Okay? So we madew our way over to the dock where we were herded onto the tiniest boat and cramped down in the very front. The boat was so low that water was splashing in through a broken window, and Bianca said "Well, I feel like an illegal immigrant" and we laughed the entire way there about the absurdity of Bolivian travel. The infastructure in Bolivia is so much less developed than Peru and it has been interesting to experience what Bolivians put up with in their daily life. The best part about the surprise boat ride was the lady on the other side cooking sausage sandwhiches. We got ourselves some dinner, hopped back on the bus and made it safely to our hostel in La Paz, where we are still hanging out. I will update again soon about the jungle tour we went on this past weekend, but for now this post is long enough.
I am assuming that most of the people reading this blog are my family and close friends, so this next part is for them. It´s gonna be mushy, so if you aren´t part of my fam squad or a close friend, feel free to skip it.
Family (and close friends)! I miss you guys so much! Its a little over a month in so I thought I would give you a little update about how I am feeling and all that. I love every minute of being in South America. The cities we have seen and the people we have met have been incredible and I am so lucky I have this opportunity. I do miss you guys a lot though. My guide over the weekend was named Jamie and it made me think about how I was missing Sunday dinner and birthdays, how I wont get to go pumpkin picking with all of you and just all the little parts of life I am missing out on at home since I am down here. I guess I just felt like I should tell you all how important you are to me and that I love you all so much. (Shout out to my 237 girls... last year was the best year of my life and I miss our little life together. love you all). I am also so excited to be coming home right before Christmas, and I know it means we will get to spend so much time together, and I love that being with John has given me more people to spend time with and appreciate at the holidays. I can´t wait to get a tree and make cookies and do all the things I love with you guys. So don´t worry, I think about you all the time and can´t wait to come home to you, but first I have some more adventures to have and amazing things to see, all of which is only so cool because I get to eventually share it with you. Love you all.
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