Copacabana, Bolivia

Hey everyone, it’s been a while, but we are in a new country now. Isn’t that exciting? Yes.

Bolivia is here and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

The journey across the boarder was different this time, travelling via land. We woke up around 07:00 and got picked up by the Peru Hop bus at 08:00. This was a large puppy as it was a double decker charter bus. Behemoth. All was well for about three hours, but when we got to Bolivia we had to get visas and it was a wild process. Only USA, Israel, and China had trouble getting them it seemed, for the people in our bus. We needed passport photos, bank statements, itineraries, hotel reservations, and exit tickets, all printed out. Then it took them twenty minutes per person to verify each of our documents. Once we got the visas we made it into Bolivia, however the other bus riders left us and went ahead to CopaC because they had tours to make so us five and one guide took a taxi into town. Mer felt sick again that evening so we got dinner and then chilled in the hostel.

The next day we went to Isla Del Sol. It took about an hour to get to the island via our boat. Man this lake is so big you guys. There’s Isla Del Sol and Isla de Luna. Women were taught on the moon island and men on the sun. Basically Inkas came and taught them how to farm with the terraces. They have a temple on Isla del Sol that means “the place where the bird rests” in Aimara, but I didn’t catch the name of it. In the distance there’s mountains that were considered their grandparents. There’s still a community living there today and they speak Aimara. We walked around the island for a bit before heading back.

We got 2×1 beers and this may be my favorite beer I have ever had, Taquiña. Dinner was SO bad. Worst pizza we’ve ever had. This woman at the hostel recommended this place and it must’ve been a prank. The hostel is called Hostel Florencia, and they had wonderful hot showers. We also had such a cute room. The dinner rec aside, this was a nice place.

The following morning I wrote a little for the Big Bang and Mer ventured out for her coffee. I found her at Condor and Eagle Cafe. What a delicious lunch. Not sure how to describe the bread, it was like a smaller version of a bagel, and a different texture, topped with what may have been mustard seeds. The rest of the sandwich was avocado, sun-dried tomato (oily and soft, not hard to chew at all), and chicken. Salad and chips on the side. Really lovely. Then we went to the Cathedral and it was stunning. There was so much going on behind the alter. Lots of gold. The ceiling was a sky blue with gold stars scattered all about. It felt unique for a cathedral to have such a whimsical ceiling. Very human and familiar. Then we went back to the White Anchor at the shore and ate a burger until the Bolivia Hop bus arrived. B

Between the cathedral and the bus we booked our Patagonia O-Circuit. Such a wild process. Half of the campsites are booked on one website and half on another. The final journey with the Bolivia Hop bus was interesting. Thirty minutes in the bus, and then we got out, boarded a small boat and our bus boarded its own long flat raft. We all made it across safely, but it was so dark out and just wild scenes. We got back on the bus and road for a few more hours to La Paz. These may have been the worst roads to date. Could barely stay upright let alone try to read my book. Not sure how I managed to read any of it, but I finished my seventh book so I just have the final book in the series left. Bittersweet. This one is a little less than one thousand pages though so I think it’ll be okay. We got to our hostel and it was 23:00 but I planned ahead and wore my pajamas under my clothes so I jumped right into bed!

Next entry will be about La Paz. Talk to you all later!