Floating island/tourist crap...er trap

We had come to Puno to see Las Islas Flotantes and Taquile. Encarna had been there 8 years ago and had enjoyed it very much. We got on a boat and our guide that day was a swarthy Elvis-like fella. He was quite funny in a dead-pan kinda way.
 

 Uros - these are the reed islands made out of tatura reeds. When we arrived we were asked to sit in a circle while they explained how the islands were made - all very well rehearsed. Then we were "invited" into the "homes" of the "locals". Once they had 3 of us trapped in each house, they tried to sell us stuff. Encarna was smart and got out quickly. After that the "village" sang us some songs, awkward. And then they asked us to sing a song in our respective languages. The whole thing was contrived and awkward. We did get to go for a ride in one of their reed boats (for a price) and that was kinda cool.

We then got back on our boat for a 2 hour ride to Taquile. This is supposed to be the place for fine weaving and knits. Knitting is done by males, and the women make yarn and weave. Sadly, this island too, felt awkward and contrived. Most of the villagers were in their traditional costumes...so that they could charge per picture. But fair enough really, I can´t even begin to imagine how annoying it would be to have loud, strangers come and take my picture while I´m at work or relaxing at the local restaurant. They did have their wares for sale, but although there were some beautiful things, most were available in many of the towns we had visited.

 

 

It was interesting to hear the difference that 8 years can make. Encarna´s initial experience was quite different. I guess as foreigners we are looking for that "authentic" cultural experience. Unfortunately, as soon as word gets out that that´s what sells, well, people are smart - it gets more and more commercial and it becomes a marketing tool instead of a way of life.

I guess as visitors to a foreign land we need to understand that time is the key to that authentic experience - it takes time to get to know one person - it takes longer to know a people. You can´t really do it in a one week vacation. Sadly, our culture doesn´t allow us the luxury of that time, so I guess we have to compromise and get that watered down version they have packaged for us.

On the road again...

The next morning it was raining - again. Welcome to the rainy season.
We wanted to catch the early boat out but we were loathe to get out of our beds - it was cold and wet out there.

We did finally manage to get up and out and caught the 9:00 boat out. On board I met Philip, who lives in Sydney but is a native of Bolivia. As we were approaching Copacabana he pointed to some buildings a little farther down the coast line. "That´s Peru" he said. Really?? Who knew we were that close?!

By the time we reached shore the sun had come out again and Encarna and I were famished (no dinner, no brekkie yet). We sat in an outside patio and relished our breakfast in the sun (with sunscreen on).

While we were on the boat, Philip had suggested that I try the special popped corn that was sold in the streets. He said it was a great snack for the bus...I was going on a bus....Sooooo, I bought a 10 Boliviano bag of the stuff (just over $1) - this was the smallest bag available and it was massive! YUM! Lightly sweetened with honey, they´re like popcorn meets Sugar Crisp cereal, but not at sweet. It was really hard to stop munching on them.

Welcome to Peru

We caught the bus at 1:30 and 20 minutes later we were crossing the boarder into Peru - no muss, no fuss. Although I don´t know why you have to cross the border on foot. One couple told me their bus had left them at 10pm at the border between Peru and Ecuador...scary!

When we reached Puno, and checked into out hotel, which was a lot fancier than we were used to, we each enjoyed a hot hot shower and at the same time did some laundry.

There´s something to be said about a hot shower. We tend to take them for granted when we are at home - but when you´ve been marinating in your own sweat for a few days, because it´s not yet bad enough for you to suffer a cold shower...well, there´s nothing that beats a hot one...not even a nice bed, although that´s a really close second. So, please, next time you get in your shower, enjoy it. Relish it. It´s a wonderful place to be!

We had some dinner after our luxurious showers and then did a circuit to scope out the area around the centre of town. There´s a pedestrian street just off the Placa de Armas and we heard music coming from the far end. When we arrived there, we found a band and dancing Cholitas everywhere! They started to parade down the pedestrian street and when we tried to pass them we had great difficulty - especially past the drummers who wielded their drumsticks with much vigour!

A note on Cholitas: Cholitas are the traditionally dressed ladies that one sees mainly in Bolivia, although I did see them in Peru as well.

Isla de Sol - North side

 
First some factoids about Lake Titicaca: It is at 3800m above sea level. It sits both in Bolivia and Peru and can get as deep as 135m deep. Its also cold, as. Although the origin of the name is unknown, it is believed that Titi means puma and Caca means stone (I know what you were all thinking there..). We were headed to one of the 36 islands that are on the lake: Isla de Sol. There are 2 main ports on the island, north and south. Encarna and I were spending one night in the north part and one night in the south part.

It was raining when we left Copacabana, but it made the water nice and still. The sun started breaking through as we arrived an hour and 45 min later.

one horse town

Encarna found us a place to stay while I stayed with the bags. There were only the most basic accommodations here so our room was quite spare; 2 single beds and one small table. There were shared showers/toilets available down the stairs - this is where Copacabana´s shower was out done. There were wires coming out of the shower head and they were joined with electrical tape, then the wires continued on to the light fixture. I passed on the shower - I prefer to live.

Inca ruins

Once settled in we slogged ourselves up the hill (up and down, up and down) to see the Inca ruins that were there. The sun was pounding and it was very hot when there was no wind. The most impressive of the ruins was some sort of townhouse complex (for lack of a better comparison). It sat on top of a hill overlooking a beautiful bay- these Inca sure knew how to pick their real estate! From the top of the island the lake was a deep blue and it looked like we were on the Mediteranean coast somewhere. It was so tranquil and lovely to watch the sun sparkle on the water. We really should have put sunscreen on though.

By the time we came back down the hill, my face was on fire, and my lips were swollen. I´ve never sunburned my lips before...its not pleasant.

We had trout for dinner (surprise) and after that there was not much to do - this is a very small village and we had circled it twice already, so we hung out in our room and read...it was an early night.  Perhaps the south side of the island, which was more populated, would be more lively...

Isla de Sol - South side

Storm coming in

 

We caught the 8am ferry to the south side - it was raining.

When we had passed the south side port the day before, where we noticed a great many stairs leading to the top of the hill...there was nothing down near the dock. When we disembarked we saw that there was no other option - we would have to get up that hill somehow...with our bags...in the rain.

The path going down - at least it was dry-ish

Then, a guy appeared - he had seen the boat come in - and made us an offer on a place for the night at his hostal, so we followed him, not up the stairs, but up a cobblestone path. At first we thought we had escaped the stairs from hell, but as this path went on we noted the particularly nasty angle, coupled with the rain and donkey poo made it possibly worse than the stairs! Thankfully, buddy´s place was only half way up the hill. His hostal had a fantastic view over the bay and it was all very new (part of it wasn´t done yet). There were people still occupying the room we were taking so buddy´s wife made us a cup of tea while we waited and enjoyed the view...in the rain

The sun struggled to come out and in the end it did prevail. We climbed to the top of the hill to the little village there and we could hear that there was a big party going on...well, at least it was a big band - high school style. We learned that it was the last day of school so the whole village was celebrating.

There were some Inca ruins to be seen on this side of the island as well, but we were contented just walking around the hill, sitting in the sun (with plenty of sunscreen). We did eventually find the ruins, but seen from the top they did not look too impressive so we just walked on by...when we passed them by boat the next day we saw just how big they were! ooops!

We got back to our room relatively early, round 5,  and on our way down the very steep hill we ran into our hosts - but we didn´t recognise them because they were in their Sunday best. They were on their way to the fiesta that we could still hear going on. He was carrying a massive box full of beer on his back...it looked bloody heavy. She told us that she had left candles in the room for us. We were tired so we didn´t think too much about it at the time. We bade them farewell.

When we finally made it back, we understood...there was no electricity. Then we remarked that there were no streetlights (on the nasty cobblestone path). Encarna and I were not game to go back up the hill, nor were we prepared to come back down the hill with no light.We stayed in our room with out dinner that night - under the thick blankets, reading our books. It was cold...and rainy.

Tomorrow, we were going to Peru, hopefully the weather was going to improve.

Her name is Lola...

The bus to La Paz was pretty uneventful...apart from the flat tire we got at 1am, which made us late for the connecting bus we had. Luckily, the bus from La Paz to Copacabana was also late. Crisis averted.

We left La Paz at 8am- rush hour. It was sheer madness! I had no inclination to visit this city and just driving through made me glad of that decision. Encarna was having second thoughts about spending much time there as well. The fact that it was a freezing 2º didn`t help the cause either.

The bus we were on had no heating and it was also freezing - you could tell we were moving north! The landscape had also changed, it had become much greener and less harsh, the mountains had softer peaks - not as jagged...and it was raining.

When we arrived in Copacabana it was piss pouring rain. We hastily chose a hostal near the bus drop off area. When the answer to the all important question was yes, we agreed to spend the night. The question? Is there 24h hot water. The room looked clean and the place looked good, but the shower...it was the dodgiest shower I have ever seen (this was soon to change, however). I´m not sure how these things work but from what I could see the heating system (electric) is hooked up to the actual shower head, there is only one knob - you either get a dribble of hot water or a steady stream of cold . When it was my turn to take a shower I tried to adjust the water and got an electric shock...and here I was wondering why the knob was covered with electrical tape! What a frightening experience!

After the shocking shower, we scurried across the street for a bite to eat. On the menu....trout. Lake Titicaca was stocked with Canadian trout, eh, so it`s pretty much the main dish on most menus. I´ve never tried trout before - I`m not a big fish fan, too many bones, but when in Titicaca...I tried the grilled trout. It was delicious! I really enjoyed it...apart from the flashback I got of my son fishing with his buddy Dustin when they were about 9. They were having trouble removing a fish from the hook so they called me over for help (mistake). I cried as I tried to free the poor little fishy, sad little fella was struggling for life - all for the entertainment of a couple of kids. A barbaric practice. I overheard Dustin say to Loic, "Let`s not fish near your mom anymore." Bright kid that Dustin!



Such a beautiful lake!

After we had finished lunch, the sun was out and it was getting hot, hot, hot. We took a stroll along the edge of the lake - both of us had stiff legs from the long hike the day before and the night of not quite lying down in a cramped space.

It got so hot after a while and the lake was so inviting...I decided to go for a dip....GADZOOKS!  I found out later that the lake rarely gets above 9º. I got in up to my knees and when I got out my legs were a violent shade of red...my skin trying to figure out what the heck had just happened! We sat on the beach for a while and the lake continued to beckon - I miss proper lakes. Sorry, Australia just doesn´t do lakes properly.

We walked back to the town and spent the rest of the afternoon at a lakeside cafe, basking in the sun and enjoying a cup of tea. In the evening we tried to explore Copacabana a little more, but the torrential downpour started again. The place reminds me a little of Niagara Falls (Canadian side, of course) with a little less tack. Just a lot of souvenir shops, restaurants and hostals.

The next day we were going to catch a boat to the Isla del Sol.

Nothing says tack like a plastic swan

Sucré

Sucre

We were sad to leave Potosi, but we had to move on - Sucré was next on the bill.

In contrast to Potosi, Sucré has a great reputation amongst travellers. We were told it was a beautiful white city - the crown jewel of Bolivia....hmmmm we shall see.

Its not far from Potosi - just a couple of hours - so we caught a shared taxi. This is a great practice, along with the "collectivo" vans/buses. There´s a designated area where there vehicles wait for passengers, they generally have a fixed rate, but it´s usually very cheap because you´re sharing the cost with others. So, we caught a shared taxi with 2 other people and off we went...

...to meet our maker.

The driver was a complete maniac! We are driving through mountains on narrow roads - and this guy thought he was Mario Andretti! He was flying down (and up) at 100km/h; taking sharp corners at 80...but the worst, the thing that really set my heart pounding (and it wasn´t the altitude) was the overtaking. He would over take people on blind corners and going up hills...I dreaded seeing a vehicle ahead of us - the pit of my stomach would drop, because I knew my life was tenuous as he raced towards them. I thought for sure I was going to die...those 2 hours felt like an eternity.

When we finally made it to Sucré I was sorely tempted to kiss the sidewalk.

(All that aside I still think the shared taxi, collectivo thing is a great idea...just don´t get in when the driver is a young man...sorry guys, insurance companies charge young men a fortune for a reason)



Hostal San Francisco



Encarna and I went to the Hostal suggested by Francine - the Grand Hostal - but we found it too expensive so we went in search of something more reasonable. We ended up in the Hostal San Francisco - it was fantastic! I reckon that it was the best place I´ve stayed at thus far. The room was HUGE, the shower was hot, the beds were firm, and the place itself was beautiful.



One of the terraces...



Sucré itself was a nice place, but hardly lived up to the hype (in my humble opinion). It was founded in 1538 and is known for its 18th and 19th century buildings...and the fact that most of the buildings in the centre are all white. We went to visit the Recoleta Monastery, founded by the Franciscans in 1601 - beautiful old place - we even had our own personal tour guide...he was a very odd young fellow who recited his lines in a v.e.r.y s.l.o.w a.n.d m.o.n.o.t.o.n.o.u.s. v.o.i.c.e...it was very hard not to laugh. Once Encarna interrupted his recital with a question and he became completely flustered. Hilarious! This was a very tranquil place. Quite large, on top of the hill overlooking the town, it had 4 terraces...so we were quite shocked to hear that there were only 5 monks living there (we even met one).  So, if there´s anyone (er guy) out there who is looking for spacious accoms; gratis, in a nice town in Bolivia, you know where to go....oh, there is that small commitment to God thing...

On Sundays there´s a well known market in a nearby town called Tarabuco. So Encarna and I caught the collectivo (much more reasonable, both price wise and safety wise) to check it out. Its 70 km outside Sucré  through some beautiful mountains...too bad I fall asleep every time I climb into one of those things - I´m not the only one I might add, everyone just dozes off in them, you can´t help it!

Although this market is mentioned in the Lonely Planet, it was a sad disappointment. Things were way overpriced and the whole atmosphere was a little sad and desperate. We looked around a little and had a fabulous pollo piquante (spicy chicken) in a little street restaurant (very basic place; plastic stools out side only) then went back to town.

We wandered the streets of Sucré, as we did the streets of Potosi, but it just wasn´t the same. Sucré was bigger, but not as intimate and quaint (or grand, I think) as Potosi. So we decided to go out of town on a hike. We found a company called Condor Treks who offer guided treks from 1 - 5 days. They are a non-profit company, founded by an Aussie bloke, who support development and social projects within Sucre and the surrounding countryside. The one day hike including a visit to the archaeological park was just what we were looking for.

We all took the bus to the "park"....but when we got there it looked like an industrial place, full of massive trucks (the dinosaurs of today?) The whole place belongs to the most important cement factory in Bolivia (there are only 2) and well, cement makes more money than dinosaur tracks.

Ok doesn`t look like much here, but it was impressive!

We walked past the security guard and up a small hill - and there it was... Jurassic Park meets Disney. Admittedly, it was a little camp and a lot tacky, but I guess this is Bolivia´s first stab at this kind of thing.

The park was more geared for those really keen on dinosaurs - 6 to 8 year old boys - but our guide did tell us some fascinating things. The most impressive to me was this: The tracks are on a 1200 meter long and 110 meter wide slab of dry mud, inclined almost vertically at 72 degrees...this used to be completely vertical at one point. The tectonic plate movement pushed up this giant slab up over time...just like it did all the mountains. The slab of tracks is 68 million years old and contains more than 5000 footprints, belonging to at least eight different species of dinosaurs.  It is one of the most important dinosaur footprint site in the world.

Pretty cool, right?

After our little visit we went for a stroll through the hills. It was bloody hot but totally worth it to get out of the city, have a picnic, and really work our legs...some of those hills were steep! We spent the day communing with nature and some local farm animals. It was a very lovely day. When we caught the bus back into town, we saw a curious thing - it was a stuffed hanging man from the lamp post. We asked Randall (the founder of Condor Treks) what the heck that was and he told us that this was a message to any one who was caught stealing...community justice. Gulp, they don´t kid around! We saw a few of these, and I´m sad to say I was never quick enough on the draw to get it in a photo.

Directly after our walk we headed to the bus station for the next leg of the journey...Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca!
(photos to come tomorrow!)

Potosi

We had been on the road now for 4 days without a shower...what was another few of hours, right?
Encarna and I hopped on to the bus to Potosi - it was a rather sorry and run down looking thing - but at the front, facing all the passengers was Avril Lavigne and Shakira. Very reassuring.

Off we went, most of the road was done, there were only a few areas that were still under construction, but all in all it was better than we had been lead to believe.  It was interesting to note that the mountains were a tad greener here, and the the rock was less colourful, just more in the greys, creams and whites (not sure what kind of rock that is).



view from the room



I´ve had mixed reviews about Potosi, a girl in Salta told me not to miss it and Francine had said it was boring and there only a mine to see. As the bus pulled in, Encarna and I were tending to agree with Francine. We caught a cab to our Hostal (we had chosen an old mission from the Lonely Planet), our opinion changed.

Potosi was founded in 1546s as a silver mining town. It soon became one of the most important cities on the continent. So much so, that the word potosi became an adjective meaning much wealth or abundance. It is one of the highest towns in the world as well - coming in at 4067m above sea level (meh, didn´t faze us anymore).

When we got to our hostal/mission it was a labyrinth of a place, very cool though, even if the pictures were hung from the top of the wall - most importantly, it had HOT WATER SHOWERS! We made quick use of that and then set off on a quick re-con mission since it was already starting to get dark.

Potosi has the feel and architecture of, well, a 16th century Spanish town! HOW AWESOME! Cobbled streets, massive churches, little balconies made of beautifully sculpted wood, massive studded doors...fantastic! We would have to wait for la mañana, to appreciate its full grandeur...we were hungry and tired (we had been up since 5 that morning remember!), so we stopped in a little bistro overlooking the main square and had a lovely glass of wine with our dinner.

Casa de la moneda

After a good night´s sleep, we went to see the Casa de la Moneda (the mint) was built in 1574 and the story goes that when the king of Spain got the bill for the construction, he exclaimed, "WHAT??!!! Are you kidding me??! Did you build the thing out of silver??!" (ok, I´m paraphrasing). The whole silver era was brutal for the natives living in the area as well as the African slaves that were also brought in. The building was very interesting though and still very impressive.

Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco

We also tried to get into some of the magnificent churches, but we found most were locked. We did manage to get into one though - Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco the original church was built in 1547 but mostly torn down and rebuilt in 1707. It is a really beautiful and imposing building (most of the churches here are - I guess it was part of the pope´s plan to intimidate the natives)

We did a lot of wandering around the old streets of Potosi, there was always a new, narrow street we hadn´t explored. We can´t figure out why this wonderful town has such a bad rap. Encarna and I have this town as ·1 on our list.

Some weird things about Potosi...Although it´s known for it´s silver mines, we were hard pressed to find any silver things there. We were told that although there´s silver in them thar hills, and people still break their backs trying to mine it (as individuals not for a company), no one has the equipment to work the stuff.

We found an inordinate amount of lawyers...mostly in one street.

Lastly, they won´t let you into the supermarket (I love visiting supermarkets in different countries) with any bags...not even your purse. When we asked the guy how we were going to pay without our purses he just shook his head and repeated that all bags must be checked. We left. Curious custom.