Isla del Sol

Today we had to get up extra early (6:45am...bleh) in order to see if we could buy tickets for the Isla del Sol boat that left at 8:30am. Luckily there were plenty of spaces left and we were able to buy our bus tickets to La Paz for 6:30pm at the same travel agency. We made it back to the hotel with just enough time to pack up and take advantage of the free breakfast (which actually had fruit and real coffee!) before heading to the dock for the tour. The boat we were taking on the 2 hour ride had an open top deck as well as an enclosed bottom, but we decided to sit below since it was freezing and the wind upstairs wouldn't help. There was a guy on our tour that had also been on our tour of the floating islands in Puno so we tried making friends with him. He was from Brazil and was very nice but seemed a bit reluctant to become good friends with us.

The ride out to the island was slow going but the water was beautiful. At one point you could see the snow capped mountains in the background and with the crystal blue water and the snow; it looked unreal. The islands were another story though. They were barren and very deserty- definitely not something I found to be beautiful.

When we finally arrived at the north point of the island, we had three hours to explore. We did the 50 minute hike out to the ruins. The hike wasn't too bad and we chatted with our Brazilian friend about what places in Brazil we should visit in November. When we arrived at the ruins, I was a little disappointed. Truth be told, I should probably never see another ruin after seeing Tikal and Machu Pichu: those sites are just so spectacular.

We walked around for a while taking in the scenery before heading back to catch the boat at 1:30. We could have done a 3 hour walk to the south part of the island instead of taking the boat but since there was nothing to see along the way and Alyssa was still getting over her illness, we opted for the boat.

When we reached the southern part, we realized there was truly nothing there. Luckily there were a few restaurants so we joined one of the guys in our tour from Germany and chatted over fried fish, rice and french fries... pretty much the staple meal of every country we've visited. The boat back to Copacabana left at 3:30 and we had only an hour ride back. I chatted with our new German friend about his travels, what he did back home, family etc. It was astonishing to me how similar people's experiences and viewpoints can be when they come from such different worlds. We find this with a lot of people we meet but this guy was actually 29 (instead of 21 like the travelers usually are) so we had more in common simply because of our age.

We reached Copacabana and headed back to our hotel to try to research hostels to stay in once we reached La Paz since our bus wouldn't arrive until after 10:00pm. Unfortunately, the Internet at our hotel was beyond slow so it took 45 minutes to realize that pretty much everything was booked. We decided we would just have to figure it our when we got there. We collected our bags and headed to the travel agency to pick up our bus tickets. The guy who had sold us our tickets was not there and the woman who we presented our receipt to looked completely perplexed. She frantically called someone and then asked us to follow her at a rapid pace up the street to where the buses were parked. She pointed to our bus and Alyssa and I both laughed out loud. This was the shittiest bus we had seen yet. And there were plenty of other buses out there that were also heading to La Paz. We explained to her (and the driver of that bus) that we had purchased a ticket with the understanding that we would be on a real bus, not on some broken down VW bus from hell. They argued with us for a while but I think she knew she was screwing us over, so she finally pointed to another bus. That one wasn't much better but since our options were limited, we agreed. Our Brazilian friend was supposed to be on the same bus as us, but he ended up on the shitty bus and didn't seem to care so we said goodbye to him. We knew we wouldn't be stopping for dinner so we walked around town looking for any market that might have food with some nutritional value. Absolutely NOTHING to be found. There are tons of little shops but they all sell the exact same things. As we walked, we saw some money blowing in the wind down the street. We caught the bills and suddenly had $40 Bolivianaros! We decided we would use the money to buy bus snacks. We begrudgingly settled for the following: sour cream and onion Pringles, crackers, lemon cookies and Oreos. Trust me, this is not what we wanted. But it was either that or starve. We boarded the bus and settled in for the cold, dark drive.

About an hour into the drive we were told that we had to get off the bus. We were really confused but an English speaking Bolivian passenger explained to us that the bus had to be ferried across part of Lake Titicaca and it was so unsafe that people were not allowed to stay in the bus but instead had to take a boat over. We were perplexed but got off the bus and watched as it was driven onto a little ferry made of wooden planks and tires, powered by a single motor. We piled along with 25 other people into a tiny boat and began the journey across the lake. When we went through the waves the boat seemed like it might capsize and I was planning how I would keep my iPad and camera drive if we ended up in the water. Doing things like this (in the complete dark by the way, no lights in or on the boat) is just such a stark contrast to how things are done in the US. I am always appalled by things that are happening around us but none of the local people seem bothered because that's just what happens. You wait 45 minutes for someone to serve at you in a restaurant, you are sold and English speaking tour and end up with a Spanish speaking guide, you cross a lake in the pitch dark when your travel agent never even bothered to mention this to you...just another day in Bolivia. Luckily both the bus and our boat made it safely to the other side and we got back on the bus to complete our drive to La Paz.

When we arrived in La Paz, we tried to hail a cab to take us to a hotel. For some reason, none of the cabs would pull over to pick us up, even though they were empty. We couldn't figure it out! Finally, after 10 minutes of walking around, a cab stopped and agreed to take us. The hotel that had been recommended to us as a cheap option ended up costing $40 USD/night so we asked them if there was anything cheaper nearby. They called next door where there was another hotel for $32/night. We settled for that since it was late and we were unfamiliar with the town and how safe it was to walk around at night. The room was nice, we had great Internet and to water. These are really the only things I care about in a hotel.

 

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