Lake Titicacca is located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It is the highest lake in the world that can be navigated. From Puno on the Peruvian side you could visit the Floating Islands and from Copacabana on the Bolivian side you can visit Isla del Sol.
Our bus arrived in to Puno at crazy O clock ... meaning 5am. Ugh. The joys of travelling! To put it politely Puno is a shithole. The plan all along was to do a half day tour of the floating islands and then head over to Copacabana in Bolovia and when we say Puno we decided to get out of there as soon as possible.
We booked a half day tour with a company at the bus station for 8.30 so until then we hung around and drank coffee.
Id heard loads of great things about the floating islands but I have to say I was really disappointed. The islands themselves are pretty cool. They and everything on them are made out of reeds! But they are so commercial. When we arrived at the islands after a 40 minute boat ride there were literally hundreds of tourist boats everywhere!!
We were brought onto one of the islands by our guide and as it was raining we were then taken into one of the islanders 'house'. It was really interesting to hear how they built the islands etc but we were also told how poor they all were and then they tried to sell everyone their crafts etc which was a bit annoying. We then went to a second island where we got coffee and explored for a while.
The tour lasted four hours and then we were brought back to the bus station. We had our connection to Cop at 2pm so there was a bit more waiting around before we hoped on this bus. The three of us were very happy to be leaving Puno!
So it was bye bye Peru for me and on I went into Bolivia. We had a relatively easy border crossing, no major wait which was nice.
And then we got to Copacabana. OH MY HOLY GOD. We had arrived in the middle of a local religious festival and the place was MENTAL. There were crowds of people, street vendors, street performers and stalls everywhere. I can tell you how crazy it was but you have to have been there. Now for one I hadnt booked a hostel and do you think we could find one? Nope no bloody way. The four of us (we picked up an English guy called Rich on the way) tried about 10 hostels with no luck. Eventually we found a 'local hostel' that would normally only be used by Bolivians and Peruvians that were there for the festival. It was a hole, it was vile but we literally had no option so we took the room.
Edel went to bed as she wasnt feeling well but myself Ais and Rich decided to brave the outside madness in search of food! We did manage to find a nice place and had a lovely dinner. We also found a tour agency that ran day trips to Isla Del Sol. Unfortunatly after dinner we had to head back to the hostel. That night I literally did not open my case. I slept in the cloths I had on me, on top of the bed covers!!!! All part of the fun though isnt it?!
6th/Aug
Now everyone told me how cheap Bolivia is and I was like yeah yeah great but when I got there and actually saw how cheap it is I was blown away. We got up the next morning early and book our tour.... for €2.50 each..... This tour was basically a 3hr boat trip to he island and then the boat back again later that evening. Seriously 2.50?? Where would you get it?!!!!
The boat out was a nice ride, it was early so it was a bit cold but nothing too extreme.
Isla Del Sol is the first place the Incas set up home and has stunning view and amazing landscape. The boat dropped us off at the north part of the island and we would walk to the southern tip and be picked up again. The walk was amazing, the place is paradise no wonder the Incas like it!! The sun shines but at the same time we were so high up it was cold. Again the altitude was a bitch here... and some parts of the walk were difficult enough but over all an amazing day.
We made it to the southern port just in time for the boat back to Cop. I was tired and slept most of the way which suited me just fine! When we arrived back to Cop we went back to pick up our bags which we had left in storage at the tour company. They also ran buses to La Paz, Bolivias capital which was our next stop. They had one that evening and with the mental festival still in full swing we decided to get the fuck out of dodge and head to La Paz on a 6.30pm bus.
The bus was 9 hours... an easy length. Half way though we had to get off the bus and get a boat across another lake! None of knew about this part of the journey so we were all a bit confused when we were woken up and shoved on a boat at 10.30pm!!!!
We reached La Paz with no bother and the hostel hunt began again. Wild Rover also have a hostel here so that was our first choice. But yes of course it was full!! But we were ok there was another hostel across the road which we bailed into. We headed over the WR bar for a few drinks but everyone was pretty tired from the constant go over the past few days so we didnt last too long.
HELLO BOLIVIA :)
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