Change of plans, Chu Chu first

Well, I hit a bit of a snag with the Jungle trip. I took the night bus to La Paz ok, it was freezing cold but managed to get a little sleep. We arrived at the bus terminal about 6:00 am into a freezing cold, non climate controlled bus terminal. The airline office didn’t open till 9 so I just sat out the cold amongst the locals and other backpackers in the bus station. Then I caught a cab to the airline office where they told me….can you believe it…it was raining in the jungle…no flight today. All of that days flights were moved to the next day so the soonest I could hop a flight was in two days and even that was questionable. I didn’t want to waste several days in La Paz so I paid a taxi driver about $12 to drive me around for 3 hours and show me the city. The city is located in a valley with buildings built up each side. It really is a beautiful sight. The driver drove me up one side of the canyon and then up the other. He took me to a few local markets, the main gov’t sights and took me to his favorite fresh squeezed OJ stand. The highlight was the Witches Market where there is still a fairly active witch craft movement. Here you can buy a multitude of witchcraft goods including llama fetus’s which supposedly bring good fortune to a home if you bury it under a corner of the new foundation….I took pictures but didn’t touch. That afternoon, I jumped a bus to Cococabana which is located on Lake Titicaca. I met three other nice travelers, two girls from Sweden and a guy from France. The journey was very pretty. We actually had to grab a boat across part of the lake and then watch our bus float across on a barge. We joined forces and picked out a hostel together in Cococabana. Lake Titicacca is difficult to put into words. It is by far the most beautiful place I saw in Bolivia. It is known for its high altitiude (12,000ft), deep blue clear waters, fresh trout, laid back atmosphere and the famous inca islands, Isla del sol and Isla de Luna. Our first night we had an amazing trout dinner at a very unique restaurant where the owner was obviously stoned and kept mixing English and Spanish. He was very intent on us enjoying our stay. I don’t know where the kitchen was but all the food arrived by means of a knock on a door leading to an alley. Anyway, it was a pretty interesting dinner where we finished it off chewing on some coca leaves…yes the same leaves used to make cocaine but not having the same effect of course. Although they do have other effects.
The next day we wanted to get over to Isla del sol to see the Inca ruins and enjoy the vistas. First we had breakfast in a “laid back” restaurant where after we ordered our meals 15 minutes later a little boy arrived with a bag full of eggs and several of the other ingredients for our breakfast, straight from the market. We decided to take long trek and short boat ride. We walked about 13-14 miles around the lake, up and down peaks and on a short section of trail used by the Incas. This took us about 4.5 hours and we saw incredible vistas, passed through several indigenous villages where we got to really see Bolivian life. They have an incredibly deep, fishing and farming culture. Its is very simple and humble. No backpacks or fancy equipment, only slings over their backs and simple hand tools. It was amazing. On the top of one of the peaks we ran into two small children, no older than 8 with a donkey. They said they were waiting for their mother. We sat and talked with them for some time. The little girl was really chatting us up. She wanted to see all our stuff and wear the girls earrings. One of the Swedish girls even painted her fingernails. It was really cute. Their donkey didn’t have a name, they just called it Burrow. When we arrived at the port on the far end of the peninsula where we jumped a boat to Isla del Sol. It was getting late but again we opted for the hard route. We had the boat drop us off on the front edge of the island…literally we jumped over to a rock and scrambled up a hill side. We then had another 1 hour hike to the town where we would find a Hostel for the night. Walking the streets was an adventure to avoid the herd s of donkeys who delivered supplies to all the homes and businesses. Some of the children had become accustomed to tourists and would rush out and ask to take pictures with us and then immediately ask for money. We usually gave them break, fruit or candy instead. Our Hostel turned out to be quite cozy with an incredible view. We got two double rooms and they had a shower that actually had luke warm water. No TP in the bathroom and you had to pour water from a bucket to get it to flush but overall it was amazing accommodations for about $2.50 per night. We had another $3 dinner with amazing fresh trout, soup, desert and a hot chocolate. The night was again really cold with no heat but we had warm clothes and lots of blankets. It was an amazing place to stay and an amazing place to wake up. We had a full breakfast overlooking the lack from our front deck. The value here is amazing if you can handle the little nuances of the Bolivian 3rd world culture. I scooped up a nalgene full of Titicacca water (filtered with my UV light of course), grabbed another boat to the north end of the Isla to see the ruins, hustled back to the boat and then to Cocacabana where we caught a night train to Cuzco. Crossing the boarder was fun. When you enter Bolivia they give you this little scrap of paper that you are supposed to keep until you leave. I didn’t have it in my passport when I went to get my exit stamp so I was worried. The Bolivian agent pointed me toward a police officer and said twenty bolivianos. I went over and paid. Then went to the exit stamp window, the man saw I didn’t have the paper, looked at the officer who nodded and I got my stamp. This was my first official bribe. 5 minutes later I found my paper hidden in my vaccination card….but it didn’t matter it’s a good story. I am now in Cusco where I am going to Machu Picchu tonight and seeing the ruins tomorrow. This place…it is really expensive to get to and see Machu Pichu. After Chu Chu I plan to give the jungle another try in Peru in Puerto Maldonado then on to Chile!That’s the update for now…things are still great!

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