Bolivian Beach Vacation

So La Paz didn't as such work out. As the bus drove into the city after the bumpiest ride in history (oh, Bolivia.) I started talking to a Californian woman, Cara, just  few years older than me, who convinced me to skip La Paz and head right out to Lake Titicaca. We booked a bus and wandered La Paz for a few hour before taking off.

The thing that struck me most about La Paz were the markets. Coming from Chile and its gung-ho mall culture, it was a big difference. I didn't see any malls in La Paz, although they may just be farther from the downtown core. Instead, everything you could ever want is in the streets, in outdoor vendors. This existed in Chile as well (usually right outside the mall...) but not with this sort of enthusiasm. And the food market was incredible... several long, winding streets covered in fresh fruits and vegetables. Gorgeous colours. So much bustle.

So we wandered the market and got out of town. We made it to Copacabana, a little beach town on the lake (Bolivia is landlocked, so this is as good a beach as they get) on Friday afternoon. We spent the whole weekend there, first wandering the town and then hiking through a nearby island.

Remains of a building on the Isla del Sol

Isla del Sol is the birthplace of the Inca religion and the site of a fairly large temple ruin. It was neat to walk through, to see the complexity of the building itself and the care that was clearly taken in the way it was laid out. Otherwise, the 4 hour hike across the island was nice, but uneventful. We went back to Copacabana and grabbed a bus out Sunday night.

Copacabana (no, not the one from the song, that's a beach in Rio) is a cute little town, but clearly has morphed into the super-tourist hub. Despite this focus on tourism, however, there really was no hostel culture developing.... we couldn't find any hostels with common areas to meet people and hang out, which is tragic. Thank goodness Cara and I had banded together... we got a hotel room and saved a little cash that way. The restaurants were great, but the nightlife fizzled at about midnight... so Halloween ended a little early for us. Ah well.

Trout restaurants on the beach

I tried the local lake trout, which was really good. Although my stomach is making odd gurgles now... I also ate a salad even though I know better. Uh oh.

I must say, finding people to hang out with for two or three days is making this trip infinitely easier for me. You get past the backpacker twenty questions (where are from, where are you going, how long is your trip etc. etc.) and have real conversations like you would at home with your friends. It makes the longing for home easier to handle. I've found a few people now that I have been able to make friends with through the trip, and it´s fantastic.

So now, Monday morning, I am in Cuzco, Peru at the Loki Hostel, which is supposed to be a pretty bumping place. I´m exhausted after an all-night bus, but I think with a nap I will have the energy to wander the city today and set myself up a Machu Picchu tour.

S.