Copacabana and La Paz, Bolivia

We drove along the country side of Peru for almost 3 hours until we reached the border of Bolivia. I was a little nervous exiting the bus because I knew Bolivia didn’t necessarily like Americans and that was part of the reason why I would have to pay $135 for a Visa to enter their country. First we had to leave Peru with our departure card and then walk across the border to enter Kasani, Bolivia and pay the money for our Visa. Sounds simple? It wasn’t at all. It was extremely stressful and hectic because I didn’t know that this was the order and no one was helping us whatsoever. Once we walked into Bolivia we had to fill out a bunch of paperwork and the immigration officers were not very friendly due to the fact that we were American (well 3 of us). To make matters worse, when Laura came to Peru back in April they only wrote 30 days in her passport meaning that we had outstayed her time in Peru and the Bolivian officials would not let her in the country. There was another American man there that spoke Spanish that was trying to help her and talk to the officers to explains that it wasn’t her fault, but they were not having it and were trying to bride her into making her pay them money to let her in. Finally, she just left the office and got back on the bus, ergo entering the country illegally because she never got a stamp in her passport. In another country this might have been a problem, but there was literally no one standing at the border checking passports and had she not gone in that office, no one would have even known that there was a problem. Also, since she is Australian there were ways around it and I will tell you now to save the suspense and worry, she was able to sneak back into Peru with no problems, thank God!

There was an hour time change at the border so we were now an hour ahead and arrived in Copacabana, sort of like the much prettier sister of Puno, around 12:30 pm. We booked a tour out to Isla de Sol at 1:30 and our bus to La Paz the next day for only 17 Bolivianos. The exchange rate for Bolivianos (the Bolivian currency) is 7 to 1 and things are so cheap in Bolivia. In the meantime went and got a hostel right by the lake on the main strip of town that was nice although it had no toilet paper in the bathroom and the bedspreads looked like they came from the Victorian ages, but I guess that is what you get for B50 ($7). The Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca was way nicer and Copacabana looked like what I imagine a city on the Mediterranean would look like. It had nice hotels, a beach in a cove and the main street had cobblestone and touristy restaurants where you can sit outside with a view of the lake.

Our boat ride out to Isla de Sol was an hour and a half. On the way we saw snow capped mountains and the other Bolivian islands that had their own ruins as well. When we arrived on the island there was a band playing at the bottom of the path up to the ruins. We decided not to do the hike up to them and stay at the bottom to explore and lay on the beach. There were donkeys and llamas everywhere on this island that the people would make them walk up and down the broken cobblestone to get down to the lake for some water. There were two warrior statues that we had some fun taking pictures with and in the port there were boats from the size of canoes all the way to yachts. We got back on the boat and sat on the top deck for the ride back even though it was starting to get cold.

We got back to Copacabana around 5:45 and ran back into the hostel to throw on some more jackets and then headed to dinner. We got warm bread, a salad bar, soup, an entrée, desert and a drink for B23. That is like $3, can you believe that!?!

After dinner Bryant, Nika and I walked up to check out their plaza. They had a large church and a center area with trees and a statue like most of the plazas I have seen in Peru and Bolivia. We went into a meat market where I sat an adorable little baby lamb that was practically skin and bones. I talked to the little girls with it and they said the mother died so they had to feed it milk with a bottle. We headed back to the hostel and I took a shower and got into my bumpy and way to soft bed because our bus for La Paz left the next morning at 8 am.

Our bus to La Paz traveled along a skinny mountain highway and about an hour into it we had to get off and cross the lake in a boat while our bus crossed on its own boat. We arrived in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, around noon and went right to the bus station to get tickets back. Brittany felt uncomfortable in Bolivia and Laura didn’t like the fact that she was there illegally so the two of them and Bryant decided to get a bus back immediately at 2 pm while I stayed with Nika in the city and bought a ticket to go back the following morning at 8:30 am. If I had gone back with them I wouldn’t have even seen La Paz and it would have been a wasted trip there in the first place.

Nika and I got a hostel called The Point, which they have in many cities across Peru and Bolivia. It was very nice, safe and touristy and we met a lot of other westerners there from Germany, England, Scotland, Canada and even some fellow Americans. We stayed in a room with 3 other girls called “psychedelics” that had bunk beds. The hostel featured its own travel agency, a Jacuzzi, an open courtyard with 3 hammocks, its own bar and restaurant, a movie room and free internet.

Nika and I headed out to explore the city with a map that the hostel gave us. We started by going to the main government square which was really cool. There were police men with guns and shields and guards everywhere. Four Bolivian teenage boys wanted to take a picture with me I think because I was the only blonde for miles. They were cute and polite so I let them and they giggled and ran off happy to have a picture with a gringa.

It was the weirdest thing but all throughout the city the cross guards wore zebra costumes! I asked one of them why and he said it was because there weren’t enough police to do it because they need to be doing other things like controlling crime and whatnot so the cross guards get paid to wear the silly costumes because they will stick out to traffic. It was really bizarre but quite funny.

La Paz was just another big city but it was unique in its own way. It was busy with people of all types, from the indigenous dressed to the business dressed. In Bolivia, the indigenous women still wear similar clothing, yet their skirts are much more shiny and outlandish. They aren’t usually just one plain, dull color but they will be multi colored and have some metallic in them as well or a print. There were high rises everywhere and many shops and markets. I must say however, it was one of the rankest smelling cities I have ever been in. I read in Nika’s Bolivia lonely planet that this is because La Paz is lacking is public restrooms so many people just go to the bathroom in the street. I didn’t see this happen personally, but I could tell by the smell that this must be accurate.

We went to the black market which took up about 10 city blocks. There was nothing there that interested Nika or I so we just walked through for the experience. Next we stumbled upon the city’s largest and oldest church called San Francisco. We were able to go inside for a look and it was quite extravagant with very high ceilings and display cases down each wall.

In La Paz they have a special market where witches come to sell their potions and good luck charms. Nika and I loved this part of the city and were amazed at all the weird things they had. Each stand had llama fetuses that witches sell for people to put under the construction of a new house for good luck. They had them hanging everywhere or in baskets and I couldn’t help but take a million pictures. We both had a cough; mine still has been persisting, so we asked one of the witches if she had any potions that could help us. We bought “Sangre de Grado” which means blood of and grado is a type of plant. It was B10 and we put it in our coca tea later that night and it actually helped!

We took a taxi up to a viewpoint of the city called Killi Killi. We could see all of La Paz, which I didn’t realize until then was in a valley. We took some great pictures with the entire city in the background and sat on one of the benches for about ten minutes taking in the view. We could see all the houses on the hillside, the high rises below in the central city and there was even a large soccer stadium.

We went to the Folklore museum next which was awesome! The first part had black and white photos of villagers from the 1930s in the rainforest. It showed their huts and tools and how they lived. Another room had fabrics from all over the country and a video was playing of how they make the different patterns and weave the colors. There was an actual machine in the room with the threads and the tools the women use to make the different things they sell. My favorite part of the museum was a room full of the traditional masks they use for the cultural dances. They were all so different and wacky but really cool in their own way. The next room had head dresses that the people wear during festivals and ceremonies. I couldn’t believe the size of some of them and how people would even be able to balance them on their head! The next room had a lot of ceramic pots and artifacts along with another video of how they make them out of the clay. The last room had the evolution of money and how they started with the Reales when Spain brought its currency over and eventually made their own form which is now the Boliviano. It has changed in the bill and coin form over the years though and it was cool to see where it started to where it is today as the money I had in my wallet.

It had gotten dark and I was now starting to feel a little uncomfortable in the big city as a blonde tourist girl. Nika and I looked all over for a money exchange so that she could cash in her traveler’s checks because the banks wouldn’t do it. We finally found one on the main road which was bustling with people, traffic and armed police men and I made sure to stay close to Nika and hold on tightly to my purse. We went into an internet café so I could use the phone to call my parents to let them know I was safe in La Paz and would be returning to Cusco in the morning.

We got a taxi back to our hostel where we had some delicious tacos for dinner. Nika was very tired and had a tour to go biking on “the road of death” in the morning so she went right to bed. Since I would be traveling on a bus the entire next day, I decided to stay up and take a shower and then I watched The Jungle Book with some other backpackers in the movie room. I hadn’t seen that movie since I was about 5 years old and to watch it again at 21 in Bolivia with people from all over the world was quite ironic! Afterward, I sat in the hammock and listened to my Ipod while I looked at the La Paz stars.

I woke up the next morning around 7:30 for breakfast and then got a taxi to the bus station for my 8:30 bus back to Cusco. However, when I arrived at the bus station at 8:20 my bus had already left! They had to put me on another bus that would stop in Copacabana and Puno before making it back to Cusco. I was happy to see that when I boarded the bus there were other tourist people and I later learned that one of them actually went of the University of Michigan. There was a very nice couple from California was well that took care of me along the way to make sure I got on all the right buses. A Bolivian police officer asked to see my passport at the point where we cross the lake and as soon as I pulled it out and he saw I was American he flipped through my pages frantically to make sure that I had a Visa in it. My heart was pounding so fast at that point even though I had all the right documentation, I was still scared because I had heard horror stories of the Bolivian police being corrupt and making Americans pay them off. Luckily, he returned my passport to me with no problems and I was on my way.

Crossing the border was a lot less relaxed on the way back because I knew what I was doing and because I was going back to Peru where I felt more comfortable and which is actually what I call home now. My passport is full of stamps now from leaving Peru, entering Bolivia, getting my Visa, leaving Bolivia and entering Peru again.

When we stopped in Puno there where people waiting to get on my bus with netted bags full of ducks, chickens and guinea pigs. I almost started crying because they were all crammed into these tiny bags and could barely move and it was so sad to think they were on their way to death. It made me think about becoming a vegetarian (Kristi you probably never thought you would hear me say that!)

I was supposed to get home at 7 pm, but ended up getting back at midnight because those 2 stops turned into about 6 along the way at tiny little towns where people got on and off. I was very cold on the way home and while I was sleeping in a ball the Peruvian lady next to me must have noticed and covered me up with two of her jackets.

I had a nice little adventure this weekend, but I am definitely glad to be home and guess what? I have a tan as well! Of course it is only on my face because the rest of my body was always covered in long pants and sweatshirts, but on our boat rides to and from the islands when we sat on the upper deck, we were able to get a tan on our faces from the sun.

We thought when we got back we would have new roommates since the Chicago couple and the New Zealand woman left last weekend, but there were no new roomies here when we got back, so maybe this weekend. This is my last weekend here unfortunately, but I already have it planned out for what I am going to do.

Saturday: salsa lessons in the morning at Maximo Nivel and then horseback riding in the afternoon with Bryant and Brittany.

Sunday: church in the morning since I never did get a chance to go and going to watch the Cusco soccer team play in the afternoon.

I will start my new placement at the shelter for abused girls’ tomorrow morning hopefully and get to do that for the next week or so so I at least have some experience with them before I leave.

I have to make the most of my last week and a half here in Cusco but I am starting to get sad as I think about leaving this place that has been my home for almost two months. It will be exciting to get back to Michigan for the wedding and to see my family and friends, but I have grown to love this city and the people here.

Adios for now and wish me luck in my last remaining days in Peru.

-Hillary-