Week 40: La Paz, Copacabana, Isla del Sol; Bolivia, Puno, Peru
Monday, October 17th:

I decided to mountain bike down death road, while Sarahi decided it wasn’t for her. I woke up early in the rain and walked to the tour agency. I met some nice Germans over a meager breakfast and then hopped on the bus for a couple of hours. We climbed up even higher into the mountains (just La Paz is at 4,000 meters of elevation and is the highest capitol in the world). Then we unloaded the bikes. I rented the cheapest version and still paid over $50 for the day. We flew down the steep paved road at first. I’ve never gone so fast. Then we stopped for lunch at the beginning of the death road. Then they told us that the villagers had blockaded death road and wanted 100-200 bolivianos to pass. The plan was to drive two more hours around the road then drive halfway back up and ride bikes back down. At this point there was anarchy. The tour agency had not been honest and we paid full price for half of death road. Many people went back for a refund at this point. I would have but we planned to leave La Paz the next day. Finally, we’re back on our bikes flying down gravel roads with huge cliffs dropping off the side of the road. It was cold and raining but I had a blast. We ended the bike ride at a small house and restaurant in the jungle. We had started the ride at over 5,000 meters of elevation amongst the clouds where there are no plants or animals, and you can barely breathe. We ended in the rainforest at around 2,000 meters where I saw multiple types of monkeys and was warm in a tshirt. It was an amazing experience despite not actually biking the entire road. I returned to my hostel and had a great dinner and a great woman waiting for me. She had spent the day searching for open museums, shopping, reading, and drinking coffee. 

10/18:

The next morning we made breakfast in the hostel and packed our bags. We headed to a random street where we caught a minibus to Copacabana. It was a miserable long drive over dirt roads and I had a large Quechua woman with several layers of baggage and a baby that was half laying in my lap the whole ride. We had to take a ferry and finally the beautiful but claustrophobic ride was over. Copacabana is a small beach town on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at over 4,000 meters. The lake is massive. Roughly the size of Massachusetts or Vermont I believe. In the mid 1900’s, the U.S. gave trout eggs to Bolivia or Peru, and the trout population in the lake is huge. The other fish species are being wiped out by the trout. But if you like trout you can find it in every restaurant in Bolivia and Peru, and generally for $3.50 or less. Copacabana is a beautiful town and we found a hostel with a private room for only $7 for both of us. The wifi was fast and we even had a tv! After checking into our cheapest room yet we headed to the beach. We had a nice walk on the beach and took pictures at sunset. We had dinner for about $7. I had decent trout and Sarahi had spaghetti. In Bolivia and Peru nearly every restaurant has a menu of the day. This always includes a big bowl of soup and a few choices of entree. If you’re lucky it might include and appetizer, drink, and desert as well. Believe it or not, we love eating in these countries, especially Peru. After dinner we watched netflix with our fast wifi before bed. 
10/19:

We slept in a bit and then headed to the central market where they have super cheap breakfast. We ordered two coffees with milk, three egg cheese and tomato sandwiches, six Bolivian doughnuts called bunuelos, and api, a hot, spiced and thick purple corn drink that is actually quite nice. It all cost around $4 and was very nice! We lounged in our room a bit longer, packed a day bag, and then grabbed some chicken salteados, the Bolivian version of empanada. It looks like an empanada with burnt edges, but it’s much more saucy on the inside and delicious. We hopped on a boat for a few dollars per person and sat on the roof with a nice Russian girl. It was freezing yet my nose got very sunburnt. After an hour or two we reached the Island of the Sun, a huge island with steep terraced hills. It’s amazing that the people in this region carved small strips of farmland out of steep mountain sides. After getting off the boat we had to pay a few dollars entrance fee and then walk up the Incan steps along the steep mountainside. After some exhausting hiking and confusion, we found a decent hostel for around $4 per person. We shared a room with “Sasha”, our Russian friend, and had a lovely view out the window. We all went to dinner which wasn’t very good. We were worn out and it was cold and stormy. We got in our cozy beds and were soon asleep. 

10/20: 

The next morning we ate cereal for breakfast and enjoyed the view. We packed our bags Sarahi and I set off hiking. We walked down a very steep hill through the Incan terraces until we reached the lake. We laid down on the rocky “beach” and enjoyed the serene and tourist free spot for hours. We watched the birds, donkeys, and locals at work. After a grueling hike back up, we collapsed in rocking chairs at a pizzeria with great views overlooking the lake. We ordered some nice grilled chicken (+soup and sides as is the custom) and had a well earned beer. After lunch we headed back down to the boats and bought a ticket. We waited with Sasha and new friends for an hour and then took the ride back to Copacabana. We checked back into our lovely cheap hostel and then headed to dinner. We found an amazing Italian restaurant where whey were making noodles by hand right in front of us. The gnocchi and pasta was amazing. We were worn out and after some more Netflix went to bed. 

10/21: 

We woke up and returned to our favorite breakfast place in the market. We were sad to leave the cozy town (and our fast wifi) so we decided to stay another day. We spent most of the day laying in bed and watching our Netflix shows. We checked out the massive cathedral in the center of town and ate Hawaiian pizza for lunch. We spent most of the afternoon napping and watching Netflix. That night we went to a great Asian restaurant that serves several courses and desert for a good price. They also had mango lassies which are essentially milk shakes with mangoes. So delicious. 

10/22:

We returned to our favorite breakfast place and ate like kings once again. We returned to our rooms to pack but just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave. Apparently we really needed some r&r so we decided to stay one more day. Sadly, about fifty people showed up for the weekend to the generally empty hotel, and our Netflix didn’t really work after that. I tried some fish native to the lake for lunch, which was pretty good, while Sarahi opted for more pizza. We had a lazy afternoon before hiking to the top of the hill overlooking town. It was a brutal climb but we had some really amazing views at the top. That night the Asian restaurant was full so we tried the Mexican restaurant in town instead. It was delicious and we headed to bed soon afterwards. 

10/23:

The next day it was really definitely time to move on. We returned to the breakfast place, really for the last time, and met a nice family. They had bought a new car, so they brought a small model of it to be blessed by the Virgin of Copacabana. We bought our tickets for one o’clock and relaxed until lunch. We had pizza again and then hopped on the bus for Puno, Peru. Border crossing was pretty easy, but I’m nervous because my passport is filling up with visas and stamps. We arrived to Puno around four and arranged for a boat to take us to the floating reed islands. It took about one hour by boat to arrive at the first island. There are hundreds of islands made from reeds in the lake that float together in a community. It’s a really cool but bizarre place to visit. After walking around on the springy reed ground, we took a reed boat for a few dollars to the next island. Here was the capital island which consists of one snack bar/ passport stamp office, one restaurant, several gift shops, and a few buildings for guests. We decided to stay on the island for about $10 per person. We had our own cozy shack made from reeds. We ate some overpriced but delicious trout for dinner as a massive thunderstorm raged overhead. There was a nice cat who wanted to cuddle in our bed all night ( and I let him). We slept pretty well on our floating reed island inside our reed house! 

We had a great week exploring lake Titicaca and relaxing! Peru is the last country we will visit on this trip; I know it’s sad. Bolivia has some amazing sights but it’s not our favorite country. We’re glad we went, but happy to make it out in only two weeks with extra time to enjoy Peru!