It is so hard to describe Bolivia. It’s the land that time
forgot yet held so close to its heart. It’s a place of incredible beauty yet a
lot of its people have a hard way of life. It’s a country that everyone should
experience and that no one should take for granted.
We arrived in Bolivia into the town of Copacabana on the
shores of Lake Titicaca. Being situated at an altitude of around 3800masl
(meters above sea level), it’s the highest navigable lake in the world. This
was also the first time the altitude started to affect us in a notable way. A
simple 20m walk up a road now felt like a half marathon due to the lack of
oxygen in the air. Meanwhile headaches, dizzy spells and shortness of breath
became a common occurrence. However we were going to have to get used to it as
80% of our time in Bolivia was going to be spent up at around 4000masl. A
hostel was quite easy to find as there were guys ready and waiting to snatch up
any potential clients for their accommodations as the bus arrived in
Copacabana. The hostel was quite OK but it had a wicked breakfast (too big to
finish).
We spent our first day in Bolivia slowly (very slowly) wandering the streets of
Copacabana. The town is quaint, not very large and full of countless stores
selling Alpaca and Llama knitwear, which we pretty much needed straight away as
it was quite cold being at 4000masl. So before long both Ingrid and I were
rocking some funky Alpaca jumpers and ready to see more of the town. The main
street of Copacabana starts at the port on Lake Titicaca and gradually climbs
the hill towards the centre of town. It’s lined with all kinds of restaurants,
clothing stores and hippies. Yep, Copacabana is pretty much hippy central. The
streets are filled with dozens of dreadlocked and patchwork clad travellers
trying to earn a buck through either street performing or selling their
handmade jewellery.
The next day we checked into a new guesthouse, one that we
had been advised on staying at while in Peru. Las Olas Guesthouse is, in a
word, incredible. It has 7 self-contained, uniquely designed and built
cottage-like cabins situated high on a hill overlooking Copacabana and Lake
Titicaca. Our Cabin was so amazing. It was cylindrical, and split over two
storeys, the first being the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom with a giant
circular bed in the middle and fireplace to the side, the second storey
containing another day bed and two indoor hammocks overlooking the lake. That
night I cooked up a nice dinner and we enjoyed a bottle of wine overlooking the
twinkling lights on the lake. However the lovely night was soured by the fact
the Ingrid fell quite ill overnight and was pretty much bedridden the entire
next day. We had planned to take a boat ride out to Isla del Sol (Sun Island)
on Lake Titicaca the next day as we had heard about the wonderful Inca ruins
and treks over the island, however Ingrid was in no state to get on a boat. As
it turned out, her sickness could almost have been taken as a blessing in
disguise as it rained most of the day – not great weather for trekking.
Luckily, it seemed to be a 24hr bug and Ingrid was feeling
better the following morning, which was good as we had planned to travel to La
Paz. We threw on our bags and headed down to the bus terminal, where I think it
may have been a total of 30 seconds we were there before we were offered the
cheapest bus fare I’ve ever heard of. Sixteen Bolivianos (around $2.20) per
person to travel around 4 hours to La Paz! So we boarded a minibus with all the
locals and set off. The road out of Copacabana is quite breathtaking; it climbs
all the way up through the nearby mountains before descending once again into
another lake side town. Here we were asked to get out of the Bus and board a
little tug boat to cross the Lake, and I thought to myself, ‘OK. But what about
the bus?’ My thought was quickly answered when all the Buses and Trucks started
rolling onto little barges which carried them across the water. Why build a
bridge when you can keep transporting people across the lake in the same way
that has been done for hundreds of years hey?
Arriving into La Paz was pretty crazy. We didn’t know it at
the time but La Paz is situated in one of the most spectacular settings for a
metropolis in the world. The city resides within a mountainous bowl surrounded
by stunning snow-capped peaks. At the top of the bowl, in the surrounding area
of La Paz is the city of El Alto. Driving through El Alto we were thinking we
had arrived in La Paz, and that it wasn’t very impressive at all. Then all of a
sudden the buildings stopped, and the view opened up to a jaw dropping view of
La Paz. As the road spiralled down around the bowl into La Paz Centro we could
see that no matter where you were in this city, you could see the other side of
the bowl, resulting in amazing views absolutely everywhere.
Just as a side note: while anywhere else
in the world the higher positions on the mountainside, and therefore better
views would be considered more lucrative real estate, it is actually the
opposite in La Paz. Here, everyone wants to live lower down as the elevation is
less and everyday life is easier.
I can definitely say that we loved La Paz. By the time we
arrived, our acclimatisation to the altitude was coming along well, and walking
through the bustling, market filled streets on our way to our hostel was a
great welcome. The good vibe was slightly dampened once reaching our hostel when
we were told (for the THIRD time in South America) that they had overbooked and
our room was not available. However, unlike the previous two occurrences, this
one worked in our favour. The receptionist walked us to a much better nearby
hotel and told us that we could stay there for the same price! Good vibes
flowing again.
Over the next two days we explored the streets of this
thriving market city. In the old town section of the city, most of the streets
are transformed into endless fruit, vegetable, clothing, toys, hardware,
cosmetic and even witching stalls. Yes, in fact, La Paz has a renowned street
where Bolivians and people of all walks of life come to fill their bags with
all matter of dark art and traditional ceremony materials. In this ‘Witches Market’
you will be able to find and purchase such goods as exotic spices, herbs and
dried insects, all kinds of aphrodisiacs, dreamweavers, worry dolls and even
deceased Llama foetuses. (The Llama foetuses are used for interesting rituals
called Challa or Pago which
means ‘payment’. During these sacrificial ceremonies the Llama foetuses
are burned as an offering to ‘Pachamama’ - meaning ‘Mother Earth’.)
One of our ‘must do’s’ for Bolivia was to cycle down the
infamous Death Road, or ‘El Camino de la Muerte’, which
while it was still in full use would claim the lives of up to 400 people every
year. Now a days there is a newer and much safer route from the 4800masl pass
of La Cumbre to the town of Yolosa at a very tropical 1000masl, and so the
original Death road is now primarily used for tour groups to cycle, quad bike
and (still) drive down.
Shopping around for a good tour company was tougher than expected. With
hundreds of agencies haggling for your business, it’s quite difficult to
decipher the good, reliable and most importantly safe companies from the rest.
In the end we went with Pro Downhill Mountain Biking, which turned out to be a
fantastic company to go with. They provided full safety gear, snacks, lunch and
drinks, good bikes with front and rear suspension as well as full hydraulic
disc brakes, and even provided breakfast (something all other companies
didn’t).
Our actual riding experience will forever be remembered in my mind as one of
the most incredible things we’ve done. Starting at 4800masl it took us a little
over 3 hours to descend 3500m down the winding roads with 1000m drop cliffs to
the sides. The views are spectacular (when you’ve got enough guts to take your
eyes off the gravel road for a second), and the feeling you get from knowing
you’re on DEATH ROAD is enough to get your adrenaline really pumping. While you
may read that since being opened to cycling group tours the road has claimed 34
cyclists’ lives, don’t be too intimidated, the road really isn’t that dangerous. At no stage did I feel
like I was in trouble (you need to remember that the road is pretty much wide
enough to fit two buses on and you’re only on a bicycle), and even when Ingrid
had a pretty heavy fall it never looked like she would go over the edge, she
was just waving to the camera when her tyre hit a rock J.
We had one final day in La Paz before we were to set off
further into Bolivia, and we thought we’d walk down to the central lookout of
La Paz so that we could take the entire view of the city in. The lookout was
pretty cool, it had been converted into a big children’s playground (and I mean
BIG). So it had something for everyone. Oh, and the view definitely did not
disappoint.
Next it was onto another overnight bus, this one to take us
to Sucre in central Bolivia.
Might I just say,
while we’ve found that South American people are generally quite friendly and
welcoming, they really don’t have much care when it comes to disturbing people
with their audio devices, hand-held game consoles and loud conversation,
especially while people are sleeping on overnight buses. That is all.
