It was a long journey from our previous digs in the high desert town of Arequipa, Peru, but we made across the border and into an entirely new territory for both of us. For me, this was my first time in Bolivia and would be my farthest point traveled south.
We began our Bolivian journey by crossing the border overland on the striking shores of Lake Titicaca. From the Peruvian town of Puno, we boarded a bus and were dropped at the Peruvian exit office on one side of a small bridge. After changing some money, a few quick stamps, and a few hundred meters of walking across the international bridge, we found ourselves in a new country. We re-boarded the bus and were driven the remaining few minutes into the small Bolivian town of Copacabana.
Built on a hillside overlooking the unbelievably blue lake, Copa was a strange little town. We explored the steep streets, hiked up a hillock overlooking town, and relaxed in our sunny hostel as we recovered from the restless sleep on the night bus the day before. As the sun began to set, the temperature dropped precipitously and we began to notice the streets being filled with 20-something hippies. It was a strange transformation, but suddenly, it seemed like all of the shops and restaurants were being staffed by these kids - both hispanic and white - who wore hemp pants and jewelry and big baggy ponchos. Odd...
We spent the rest of our time there taking a boat trip over to Isla del Sol - the Island of the Sun - which lies about two hours by (very slow) boat from the town proper. Here, we found a great, welcoming community who gave us shelter, food, and friendly advice on where to go exploring on the island. Finally, after a few days in the relative obscurity and isolation of these tiny towns, we took the plunge and boarded a local bus bound for La Paz.
We found ourselves thrown from the tiny hamlet with maybe a dozen families on the islas into La Paz, Bolivia`s capitol city of about 3 million residents. The city, carved into a deep valley, is filled with motion; tiny mini-buses struggle up the brutally steep streets and pedestrians walk in between them with seemingly complete disregard for their own safety. In many ways, it was a typical latin-American city.
For the first time on our trip, we spent more than one night in a row staying in the same place. La Paz seemed like a good place to spend a few days getting organized for the other things we wanted to do in Bolivia. What´s more, we had heard (correctly) that La Paz had a great night scene. So, we spent a few days relaxing, going out, and figuring out what it was that we wanted to do in this intense new country.
Because Bolivia is a fairly cheap place to travel, we decided to do a lot of exploring (by foot, bus, jeep, crampon, etc) while we were here. The next few posts will try to give some insight into our explorations of this breath-taking country and our impressions on this exciting new place.
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