Bolivia!

Bolivia!

We took a night bus from Cuzco to Copacabana, Bolivia, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. We had been warned that we would probably get swindled on this trip, since you have to cross the border, and many companies try to tell you they'll take you all the way, only to drop you off at the border and make you buy another ticket the rest of the way (in athe middle of the night.) So we tried to do our research & went with the best deal we could find that also sounded safe & legit. It was a Bolivian bus company - Nuevo Continente, and we did finally make it, although things were funny from the start. 

The bus was full with other travelers, many heading to Copacabana, like us, others getting off part way in Puno, Peru, others traveling all the way to La Paz, Bolivia.  We had been assured that we were going directly to Copacabana, no changes of buses and no stops. The bus was supposed to leave at 10:30, but it was late. It was raining, and as soon a we got on, it was clear that the roof leaked. We were on the second floor, where most of the seats were, and we were lucky that we were seated on the right side of the bus, where it wasn't dripping on us. There were a whole bunch of German girls on the other side of the aisle, and they had to ride the whole way wearing their rain coats. When this was brought to the attention of the bus company, a guy came in with a roll of packaging tape, and tried to tape all along the seam where it was leaking. This seemed to be perfectly normal to him. Of course, 2 minutes later, the tape fell off because it was all wet. So, some enterprising passengers got old newspapers and plastic bags and taped them all along the ceiling.  The rest of the passengers were also immediately annoyed because they had been promised a "bus cama" meaning seats that recline all the way back into a bed. A feisty Argentinean rallied all the passengers together to go confront the bus company. People had payed anywhere from 70 soles to 100+ soles for the same seats. The bus company wasn't about to give anyone their money back, and explained that in Bolivia, our seats ARE cama seats, and the ones that recline all the way back are called Cama VIP. No one had ever heard of that, but we all just wanted to get going, so off we went, with our taped up ceiling and our seats that only reclined part way. 

At the border they unloaded all the Copacabana passengers and our bags and put us onto combis - 15 passenger vans - that would take us the rest of the way. So I guess the guy who sold us the tickets didn't lie outrightly - we never had to get on another bus, we just had to get in a tiny cramped van. 

Finally we got to Copacabana, and it is absolutely stunning. Lake Titicaca is a deep navy blue, and the mountains all around were green and lush looking. There were farms everywhere, mostly growing potatoes of all sorts, but also coca, corn, quinoa, beans, and more. The lake is so massive, it really does look like you've reached a sea. It is one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. It is over 22,000 sq km, and the depth has now been measured at 457 meters!

We had a little breakfast and Jonathan was off to find his favorite place in every new city - the market. With groceries in tow we boarded a boat for Isla del Sol. This is the island that in the Incan creation story is where the sun was born as well as the father and mother of all the Incas. 

We found an adorable little hostel run by the sweetest woman and paid her $7 for the room and $1 for the use of her kitchen. She has a gas powered stove, which has made her neighbors quite jealous. She has lived on Isla del Sol her entire life, as has her whole extended family, including her grandmother whom we met later. 

There are numerous ruins on the island, and we immediately set out to explore. The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny & breezy with fluffy clouds in the sky. The island sits at almost 4000 meters, so we were sure to slather ourselves in sunscreen. The views from our walk that afternoon were so phenomenal, you will just have to go to FB and see the pictures for yourself. My mediocre writing could never do it justice. The water is deep blue and so clear. The entire island is terraced, and everywhere the people have scratched out gardens into the rocky soil, growing potatoes, corn, and beans mostly. Every time we turned around we ran into cows, sheep, pigs, and the littlest donkeys I've ever seen. Hardly any of them are fenced in, but most are tied with a long rope that is either stuck under a big rock or tied to a stake in the ground. We watched one little girl of about 6 chase a tiny piglet up and down a terraced hill. The girl was laughing hysterically and the piglet was squealing as it ran up and down over the rock walls. Finally she cornered it and grabbed it as it squealed bloody murder. She then proceeded to pet its head and rub its belly and set it back down with its mother, who had not lifted her own head the entire time. 

I am totally in love with this place. It feels so authentic, despite it being a tourist attraction, and it doesn't feel exploited the way Machu Picchu and some of the other sites have. Jonathan is feeling a bit under the weather with a sore throat, so I went off this morning to explore in the other direction. I passed 5 or 6 other tourists, but mostly I passed locals herding cows or sheep or burros. In the afternoon I climbed back up to the ruins on the north end and sat atop Cerro Tikani to write this and take in the scenery. No other people have come up here the whole time I've been sitting. Instead I'm just listening to the waves lapping the shores below, the bees buzzing around some tiny yellow wildflowers, and the birds playing over the potato fields all around me.  There is one lone sailboat in the bay below with a few brilliantly white seagulls circling him. He must have caught some trucha (trout) and is headed back in now.