After recovering from my unplanned drinking in La Paz I made it to Copacabana on the Bolivian edge of Lake Titicaca the highest fresh water lake in he world at an altitude of just shy of 4000 meters!
I was unsure of how long I would spend here because ongoing boarder issues so I planned a few activities to keep me occupied.
Copacabana has he feel of a small seaside town with a rustic beach side, again it had a chilled out Bolivian vibe. The Bolivians are certainly relaxed and friendly people it must be all the coca they chew!
I spent the first day climbing up a hill (mountain!) to view, what turned out to be, very limited Inca ruins!
The next day I planned the first day of two on the Isle del Sol... an island on Lake Titicaca which is, in legend, the birthplace of the Inca religion and empire. I took the early boat to the north of the island. My plan was to trek along the mountain ridge to the south, stay overnight and return the next day. As it turned out by the time I'd viewed the Inca ruins and trekked the (exhausting at altitude) 4km to the South I was in time for the afternoon boat back to Copacabana and so didn't actually end up staying. Was still a cracking day though.
I'd heard a rumor that the Bolivia Peru boarder was closed (again!) due to ongoing protests my indigenous people in the Peru side over mining contracts. I found out all buses were canceled until further notice so book a boat to Puno. Little did I know what I had in store for the next day!!!
No buses were going from Copacabana to Puno (according to the 11 agencies I trawled around). On the 16th June buses were attacked by protesters throwing rocks so all companies suspended buses until further notice.
I took a boat but this was equally difficult.
The 8.00am boats were massively oversold with those travelling to the border being packed onto rowing boats and taken to the boats only to be sent back due to overcrowding.. I was not even taken to the border before being told my boat was cancelled.
I then booked onto the (more expensive) fast boat at 11am. We got to the Yunguyu/Kasani border but just as we were stamped out of Bolivia the protesters showed up at the Yunguyu/Kasani border and closed that. We waited 3 hours for them to disperse before we could stamp into Peru.
We were then taken to the boat through fields to avoid the protesters. Unluckily they spotted us on the way and confronted us. Luckily a Colombian traveller negotiated with them and eventually once we each paid them 10 soles they let us get to the boats.
The boats we were on then ran out of fuel 30mins from Puno so we drifted for an hour until another boat brought us some extra fuel. I eventually arrived in Puno an 8.30pm. Some journey!!
But hey I arrived so it could have been worse.
After all of that fun Puno was quite relaxed. Unlike Copacabana Puno is a city. I spent weekend wandering around looking at the great markets and trying (unsuccessfully) to find some football to watch.
I also managed to visit the floating islands. A community of people who live and man made reed islands on Lake Titicaca. Fascinating to see but way too geared up to tourists.
Surprise surprise the road to Cusco was blocked by protesters and so I had to book a 12 hour night bus (it normally takes 6) but hey, at least there were buses going....
Saturday 9 July 2011
Friday 8 July 2011
La Paz & Rurrenabaque
Okay I'm back...
iPhone has been replaced with an iPod Touch and the blog can resume. I've got some catching up to do!!! So where we... Arriving in La Paz that's where.
The first thing I noticed about La Paz was the amount of uphill involved. The second thing was the ridiculously high altitude. Once I got my head around those two (which took a while) I spent a week or so exploring the place.
The first two days were pretty much wiped out once I went out drinking with the owner of the loki hostel, but I didn't manage to book my ticket for the "death road" cycling.
The death road is the most dangerous road in the world, it's single lane gravel road that descends approx 3500 meters in 3 hours. On one side is a shear drop off of the cliff... An average of 2 travelers die each year off the edge.... I didn't die!
Next up was a flight to the jungle for 6 days. The plane was a 20 seated biplane which was an experience, but nothing compared to the airport at Rurrenabaque!! A grass field with a straw hut is probably the best description!!
Rurrenabaque was my favorite place in Bolivia, it had a chilled out vibe and plenty to do if it took you fancy. On my first day I booked my jungle trip with an Eco-lodge and had half a day spare. I made use of this by booking a kayaking trip a short way along the Rio Beni including a short trek to a natural pool for a bit of a swim. Certainly a nice way to welcome the change from dusty Andes to Amazon basin.
The jungle trip turned out to be a highlight of my whole trip. The company I booked with was actually the tourist arm of a community based on the edge if the Madidi national park. All of the trip was on their land and the guide were all from the community and so had grown up on this land.
Day one was in the community visiting a village ( the only one of 7 open to tourists) and trekking to a natural pool for a swim. I was with a family of 3 in including a four year old. He certainly enjoyed the swimming!!
Day 2 we took a 3 hour boat into the Madidi Nation park, although still on Ticana (the tribe) land. We had two days in the deep jungle to do several wildlife treks. We we incredibly lucky seeing loads of animals quite rare in the deep jungle, including 3 types of monkey, wild boar, a tapir, capybara and made others. We also saw numerous birds including, a particular highlight of mine, a Toucan!!!
After an amazing 2 days I had an extra day back in the community where I had great trek though a canyon and learnt about traditional hunting method's. As I said before, definitely a highlight of the trip.
God knows what possessed me, but I decided to book a day zip lining in the jungle tops to finish of the trip... I've never been so terrified in my entire life!!
Back in La Paz I got stuck for a day because of a strike preventing my onward trip to Copacabana and so did what any normal person would do... Visited the Coca/Cocaine museum and then went out drinking....
Pictures from my time in India up to Uyuni are now up on my picasa page...
http://picasaweb.google.com/tumbridge
iPhone has been replaced with an iPod Touch and the blog can resume. I've got some catching up to do!!! So where we... Arriving in La Paz that's where.
The first thing I noticed about La Paz was the amount of uphill involved. The second thing was the ridiculously high altitude. Once I got my head around those two (which took a while) I spent a week or so exploring the place.
The first two days were pretty much wiped out once I went out drinking with the owner of the loki hostel, but I didn't manage to book my ticket for the "death road" cycling.
The death road is the most dangerous road in the world, it's single lane gravel road that descends approx 3500 meters in 3 hours. On one side is a shear drop off of the cliff... An average of 2 travelers die each year off the edge.... I didn't die!
Next up was a flight to the jungle for 6 days. The plane was a 20 seated biplane which was an experience, but nothing compared to the airport at Rurrenabaque!! A grass field with a straw hut is probably the best description!!
Rurrenabaque was my favorite place in Bolivia, it had a chilled out vibe and plenty to do if it took you fancy. On my first day I booked my jungle trip with an Eco-lodge and had half a day spare. I made use of this by booking a kayaking trip a short way along the Rio Beni including a short trek to a natural pool for a bit of a swim. Certainly a nice way to welcome the change from dusty Andes to Amazon basin.
The jungle trip turned out to be a highlight of my whole trip. The company I booked with was actually the tourist arm of a community based on the edge if the Madidi national park. All of the trip was on their land and the guide were all from the community and so had grown up on this land.
Day one was in the community visiting a village ( the only one of 7 open to tourists) and trekking to a natural pool for a swim. I was with a family of 3 in including a four year old. He certainly enjoyed the swimming!!
Day 2 we took a 3 hour boat into the Madidi Nation park, although still on Ticana (the tribe) land. We had two days in the deep jungle to do several wildlife treks. We we incredibly lucky seeing loads of animals quite rare in the deep jungle, including 3 types of monkey, wild boar, a tapir, capybara and made others. We also saw numerous birds including, a particular highlight of mine, a Toucan!!!
After an amazing 2 days I had an extra day back in the community where I had great trek though a canyon and learnt about traditional hunting method's. As I said before, definitely a highlight of the trip.
God knows what possessed me, but I decided to book a day zip lining in the jungle tops to finish of the trip... I've never been so terrified in my entire life!!
Back in La Paz I got stuck for a day because of a strike preventing my onward trip to Copacabana and so did what any normal person would do... Visited the Coca/Cocaine museum and then went out drinking....
Pictures from my time in India up to Uyuni are now up on my picasa page...
http://picasaweb.google.com/tumbridge
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)