Thursday 21 October
Breakfast at the hotel was delayed until 7.30 because the Argentine football Team, Newells Old Boys, Argie premier league were also staying.We went over the road for breakfast and were still there when the bus arrived early at 7.26 not 7.30.
When you leave El Alto, and are always very glad to, you are in green valleys with sheep farming. Due to the rain and grass it would appear to be a little bit better than subsistence farming and the buildings are both brick and adobe. All buildings and walls have Vote Evo on them.
We crossed the lake on the boat and our coach came on the barge. We then had a 1 hour spectacular drive to Copacobana and the lake. Our Hostal, Utama was two blocks up the hill and one along and the room was on a corner with views over the town and lake. This is a good place. Towels, toilet paper, a mat for the bathroom floor and a free bottle of water on the table. All this for Eur 15 for two people per night. The room even had a table, two chairs and an armchair.
We took a walk along the lake shore..not so many vistors now but will be very busy in summer. Temperatures 8 to 14 all year it says. All restaurants feature trout which are grown in hatcheries in the lake.
We hired a boat to go to the Islas Flotantes. 90 minute trip cost Eur 14. Apparently the Bolivian floating islands are for tourists like us and the Peruvian ones are the real ones. We are still struggling with the breath after La Paz. We had dinner in a restaurant with a fire. It is cold here at night. We had a thunderstorm and got a little wet going back up to the hotel as being totally out of breath. The lake is 3900 metres above sea level.
Friday 22 October
Free breakfast of pancake, jam, cornflakes, yoghurt, tea or coffee, salt biscuits, roll and a plate of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese. Sorry I forgot the toast and butter. We are taking it easy today because of the altitude. Copacobana is like San Pedro de Atacama with the number of tourists but is has paved roads and many more local people. Got the La Paz blog up to date and purchased 3 authentic CDs of Bolivian Folk Music and 2 DVDs. You will all get the chance to listen to these and admire them, ad nauseam, on our return. It says Copyright and I think they have been copied right. We are very happy walking round town and the sun is blazing.
We visited the Cathedral 1583, sorry no cactus, and saw the statue of the Black Virgin whose statue caused lots of miracles at that time when it was placed in the church. It was officially canonised in 1925 and local lore says that the lake will flood with disastrous consequences if the statue is ever moved. I do read some good guide books dont I.
We have started a new book on the most courtyards one has to cross before being able to pee pee. The Public Bano by the bus stop has 3 with a total meterage of about 40 to be walked before the call of nature can be answered.
Back at the hotel a man was typing a shipping manifest on a typewriter. Apparently some documents must be typed in Bolivia and word processed documents are not acceptable. It is year 2010. Feeling a little better with the altitude.
Saturday 23rd October
Sunny and took a 7km walk round the lake to the Bano de Inca and museum and could tell afterwards that we had done it, puff, puff. Out in the fields there were lots of photo opportunities with indiginous people working in the fields. No problem with the photo but you have to pay afterwards. We had such a large lunch that no dinner was eaten and we were in bed by 20.00
Sunday 24th October
Isla del Sol. After two hours on the boat we got off on the north of the island. We walked uphill for a very long time and it was a hard slog. Beautiful views from the heights above 400 metres and saw lots of Inca things.
http://www.google.com.bo/images?hl=es&q=isla+del+sol&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=0zDQTPreBoH88AbCtIXdBg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&ved=0CBcQsAQwAQ
It took only 35 minutes to get back to the boat, downhill and we sailed back to the south of the island where the whole boat were too knackered to climb the steps to see more Inca ruins. On the way out the water was choppy but on the way back it was as calm as a mill pond. The lake is so blue and the surrounding hills are olive green. It is beautiful and one can imagine why the Incas held it in such awe.
I took a Thai curry at the Bistrot Cafe in Copacobana which took 50 minutes to arrive and did not taste anything like Thai curry. I had very bad dreams and the breathing was not good. The combination of a dodgy curry and the exertions of the day must have been to blame.
We really should have not gone from Arica, sea level to La Paz, 4000 metres but should have stopped somewhere on the way up. Anybody thinking of going to altitude take this comment on board. Slowly, slowly, catchee monkey.
Next stop is Sucre which is at a modest 2750 metres so that will be ok.
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