Day 194: La Paz

This morning, I headed to the only restaurant that I could find on the island to get some breakfast. Well, breakfast took about a hour and a half. First they brought out the juice, 10 minutes later, they brought out a piece of bread and butter, 20 minutes later, they brought out my coffee.... and so on.

Because of breakfast, I missed the first boat out of here. Luckily, another one was not far behind. Once I got back to Copacabana, I hung out in the town while I waited for the next bus back to La Paz.

The bus ride back to La Paz, ended up taking over twice as long as it did before. Since it was Saturday, there were a bunch of markets going on in these little towns. These markets really slowed down traffic as the flow of pedestrians really took over the road.

I ended up getting into La Paz pretty late. I hung out at the bar upstairs, enjoyed the microbrew and the company of other backpackers.

Day 193: Isle del Sol

Today I headed out early and made my way back to Copacabana. Luckily, I was able to get back through the boarder without a problem. Of course, I had to pay an exit fee for Peru because I am from the US.

Copacabana is a great little tourist town filled with shops and restaurants. I caught a boat out to Isle del Sol, an island in Lake Titicaca. The boat ride was pretty terrible, a little over three hours long. I had no clue the ride was going to be that long!

Once I got to Isle del Sol, I was searching high and low for any sign of a person; the place was a sparse ghost town. I could hear some faint music off in the distance, so I just followed the music. There ended up being some sort of festival going on at the local school's basketball/soccer field. It was pretty cool to see the local band playing and everyone dancing. After watching everyone for a little bit, I started the search for a place to sleep. I found a great spot right on the beach; a room to myself, with a view of the beach and lake for $3... not bad at all!!

Once I got settled into my place, I headed out to explore my part of the island. The island is not too big, but would probably take 5-6 hours to walk around, much bigger than I was expecting. As you can imagine, the community is very basic, slow, and rural. Wild animal are running around everywhere and things like electricity are hard to come by.

That night, I just grabbed some food from a local store and hung out that night in my hostel. It has been a long time that I have had a quite room to myself.

Day 192: Puno

This morning the four Americans headed off to Peru. The guys are making their way to Machu Picchu and making their first stop in a town called Puno on Lake Titicaca, which is the highest navigable lake in the world at 12,507ft above sea level. I was originally planning to visit the lake but stay in Bolivia, never been to Peru before.

We first took a bus to Copacabana, Bolivia, which is a typical jumping off point for the lake in Bolivia. We grabbed some lunch right by the lake and hung out for a bit while we waited for our next bus.

We then caught the next bus to Puno. On the way we had to stop off at immigrations. I was worried that I wouldn't be allowed back into Bolivia. I want to say that I have read that if you leave a certain country you have to stay out of that country for a certain amount of days before re-entering the country. The guy behind the country spoke pretty terrible English and combined with my no bueno Spanish, I have no clue if I'll be able to get back into Bolivia tomorrow.

Once we got to Puno, we made our way to the hostel and then made our way out to explore the town. Granted this part of Peru is very southern, I can't really tell a difference from Bolivia and Peru. Peru is known for their good food, so I am excited to try some; also, there are tuk tuks here, which I have never seen in South America before!

After exploring the town for quite a bit, we made our way to try to find something to eat. We found a restaurant that had full chickens rotating over the coals. We each ordered a fourth of a chicken, wow, it was so good. I think that it was because it was slow cooked over those coals that made it so good. I could have eaten a foot long of that skin.

Later that night, we all hung out in the common area on our floor and drank a couple beers to our last night together. I know that we will day meet up with them whether it be in the states or abroad. Once again, I am waving goodbye to some good friends.

Day 191: La Paz

We got up rather early to get ready for the upcoming biking adrenaline fiesta. Gibbens was still feeling rough and decided not to go with us.

We went with a notoriously good company, Gravity Assisted, that is completely run by Westerners. When it comes to a day full of life or death scenarios, do you want to trust an Australian or a Bolivian? I think the answer's pretty easy.

We met up with our guide, Marcus, a great older guy who is from Australia. About 2 years ago, he sold all his belongings, packed a backpacked as set off to explore the world, indefinitely. He eventually came across Bolivia and did the Death Road circuit. The guide knew that Marcus had zero plans and offered him a job. He figured he would stay for about a week and save up some cash. That was 15 months ago.

We arrived in our bus at a lake to get all of our gear on and get prepared for the journey. The first bit is down a windy highway so that we can get used to our bikes and going downhill. Wow, it was a lot of fun to just not peddle and, like the name says, let "gravity assist" you! Our first stop was at a cliff that gave us a great view of the valley and a bus wreck!

Further down the road, we came across a US installed drug checkpoint. Because of the temperature, altitude, and latitude, La Paz is the largest producer of coca leaves (which is legal in South America), which can be turned into powered cocaine (which is illegal in South America). Over 1/3 of La Paz's annual production goes missing. While the US is just 5% of the world's population but consumes around 50% of the world's cocaine. This drug checkpoint was completely bogus, we just walked right through; no wonder 1/3 of their production goes missing.

Eventually we made our way to the bottom of the hill. Now its either power up the 8km hill to the Death Road, or get in the bus. At this altitude, everyone voted to pile in the bus!

So Yungas Road connects La Paz to Coroico. The road is about 35 miles and in 1995 was deemed the World's Most Dangerous Road. Before the alternative road was built, the road took an average of one life per day. The road is built of one way traffic, but used by cars and trucks coming from both ways. Many vehicles come around a bend and suddenly there's another car coming up the hill; they suddenly react, jerk left and now they are falling off a cliff (none of which have guard rails) 1,800ft to their death. Now the road has much less traffic, mainly tourists doing exactly what we are about to do. Around 300 tourists have fallen to their death since these downhill biking trips began. So lets begin!

What an adrenaline rush. At first, I stayed in the back of our group, taking it slow. Since we are using extremely good bicycles, I became comfortable very fast, as soon, I couldn't go fast enough as I blew past other people in our group. I was using every big rock as an opportunity to grab some air.

Eventually, we stopped for lunch. Not only is the company we are using notorious for being good, they are also notorious for being expensive. We quickly learned why. Our bikes are top notch bikes shipped in from Colorado, USA; our guide speaks English as his first language and is beyond knowledgeable; we are all given great food and Powerade; and we have more than one guide. As we were eating lunch, we saw many groups pass by. None of them had rear shocks; on such bumpy roads as these, our guide calls that "a night in prison." We then see this guy come flying down the road, our guide points our that thats the guide of another group. A large truck is now coming up the hill and the guide is long gone and the rest of the his group is making down. We are all waving telling them to slow down because they can't see this truck. One girl almost skids off the cliff! "Thats why you don't go with a bullsh** company," Marcus says. Whenever there was a bend and a truck was coming along, Marcus was off his bike, blowing his whistle, alerting us all to slow down. Not to mention, we had one guy in the middle of the group and the last guide bringing up the rear to make sure everyone was safe. I was more than happy to spend an extra $20 to ensure I can have a fun and safe time.

We then set off for the next leg of the trip. While it is absolutely amazing, it wears out the body FAST. If you sit down, your ass is going to get destroyed, so I stood up most of the time, killing my long legs. Since I am going so fast and the road is so bumpy, my hands are killing me, I feel like I have the hands of a 100 year old man. However, its going to take a lot more than that to slow me down.

The last part of the this segment was flat. Now I was starting to get passed. A combination of the altitude, sun, and the five pitchers we consumed the night before created a big "monkey" that was hanging on my back. We finally came to a resting point. Now we are at the last leg of the trip. It is a safer part of the trip, but more downhill! Oh yea!

Here's a clip of the last segment. I really wish I knew how fast I was going!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbmIyISSm0Q

Ahh! We are done. We ended in a small town, Yolosa, that survives off of tourists since the alternative road has been built. First thing we did was grab a beer and cheers to the fact that we are alive! After a round or two of drinks, we got in the bus and headed down to La Senda Verde Animal Refuge to have lunch/dinner and SHOWER! A hot body, a cold shower, followed by hot pasta and a cold beer; couldn't think of a better way to end Death Road!!

After we all finished up dinner, we got back in the bus and made the 3 hour ride back to La Paz. Once we got back to our hostel, I took another shower and then we headed up for our free beer. Had another good long night yucking it up with the Canadians as Gibbens completely regretted not going!

Day 190: La Paz

We pulled into the La Paz bus station around 8am and I was off to find my hostel. The directions that the hostel gave me were terrible! "Just right down the hill to the left from the bus station about 50 meters away." Once I got to the bottom of the hill, I walked around in an attempt to find the hostel. Unable to find it, I flagged down a taxi and asked him to take me to the hostel. He wanted to charge me about $3, which is extremely expensive for Bolivia, an average taxi should cost around $1. I blew him off and continued walking. Well it wasn't "right down the hill to the left," I walked for about 20 minutes. I don't know my meters as well as someone who's, well, not-American but I think its safe to say that 50 meters isn't a 20 minute walk. I then began to walk back uphill. With two bags and extreme altitude kicking my ass, I was dying on that walk up! After I walked to the RIGHT where the hostel said to take a LEFT, I found the hostel. Whats funny is that it was about a two minute walk from where I waved down that taxi. He was about to completely rip me off just to literally stomp on the gas peddle once and then be at the hostel.

Once I got settled in, I headed down for the breakfast that the hostel raves about. Awesome, cold pancakes and cold coffee, the breakfast of champions. I then mapped out a couple places to check out in La Paz. La Paz, is the tourist hub in Bolivia; many people use this as a stop to go to or come from Peru.

I headed to Plaza San Francisco, a very popular area that marks the city center, also where the Basilica de San Francisco church is. Well this is exactly where I had walked before with all my gear, so I already had an idea of where I was! Close to the Plaza is a road, Calle Sagarnaga, nicknamed "Gringo Alley," where loads of touristy shops are. Off of Gringo Alley is a road, Calle Linares, which is known as a "Witches Market." I was expecting A LOT more when I read about this Witch Market; I was expecting creepy old ladies walking around blowing potion in my face! It was nothing really different from Gringo Alley, just a bunch of touristy shops. Although, there were some different things from sale, like llama fetuses! Apparently, they ward off evil. In every country, I have tried to find and get a talisman of similar qualities, something that is going to protect me, bring me luck, or ward away evil. I think I am going to have to pass on getting one of these things!

After I explored the market for a while, I headed to a small cafe and grabbed a great lunch! Once i finished up, I headed back to the hostel to shed some of these layers. As I was changing in my dorm, three guys were getting settled in. Instantly a hand was in front of me, "Hey I'm Michael." I instantly knew these guys were from the States, no one is that nice and forward in the world. They are all good friends from TCU, Texas Christian University, they, like me, just graduated in December and are doing some traveling for the about a month in South America for the summer. A great mix of guys; Michael from Texas, Parker from Colorado, and Gibbens from Louisiana. Its great to meet a good group of normal Americans out here. I feel as though some people I have met in South America are gone. They are too deep in the "backpacking world," all wearing parachute pants or another form of hipster pants, dread locks, and an excess of traditional local clothing.

We headed out and I took them to the Plaza and we explored Gringo Alley. They were experiencing a slight form of altitude sickness, so we took it easy. We hit up a cafe and all got to know each other as they ate some lunch.

Later on, we went back to our hostel and Parker and Michael went to the bus station to get tickets for Puno, Peru in two days. Once we were all back at the hostel, I convinced them to join me tomorrow morning on a downhill bike ride down Death Road. Once they saw a video and some pictures, they were all in!

One great thing about our hostel, is that it has its own micro brew in the back and you get a free beer every night! That night, Michael, Parker, and I headed to the bar (Gibbens was still feeling the altitude and decided to rest). After we downed our free beers, we order a couple rounds of pitchers and had dinner with some Canadian ladies. Another reason why its is great to be with some Americans is the sense of money. Ill grab this pitcher, you get the next one. Ill pay for dinner, you just buy our lunch tomorrow. Parker said it best, "we are not going to bail on each other, this is how we operate." This is how it was when I was with Robbie and Boyd. With non-Americans, oh, I'm two dollars short for lunch, okay, we'll wait while you go to the ATM.

Trying not to consume too much alcohol as to not be hungover in the morning was quite a challenge in the presence of the Canadians.

Day 189: Overnight bus to La Paz

Today, I didn't really get much done. I back up my bag and prepared to be cold again! Tonight I am taking an overnight bus to La Paz. La Paz is recognized as the capital of Bolivia, yet Sucre is the actual capital; I don't understand it at all. It would be like calling New York, New York the capital of the US when Washington, DC is the real capital... I will admit that I am a bit nervous of this bus ride. Bolivia is notorious of bus crashes; just type "bus crash Bolivia" into Google, and you'll find plenty of recent articles. The are litany of reasons why the constant wrecks occur: Bolivian bus drivers are NOTORIOUS for driving night shifts drunk; Bolivian drivers are crazy, the majority of the roads are dirt and wind through the mountains, so the drivers will pass anyone anywhere, here comes a sharp uphill left bend, lets pass this bus! seriously, if you can actually see out the front window you will have a heart attack; also, some busses have to make it to certain checkpoints by certain times, so the drivers are always rushing. Another weird thing about the busses is that they will pick up anyone off the side of the road. I got my fingers crossed for tonight.

I walked around a bit more in town before my afternoon bus departure. I made sure to pack a bunch of warm clothes in my day bag because the busses never turn the heat on. If you are at a bus station, you'll see loads of people selling or carrying massive blankets; yea it gets freezing at night.

Later that afternoon, I left the hostel, waving another group of hostel dwellers goodbye and my way to the bus station. Luckily, I didn't have anyone next to me on the bus, so I had some room to spread out.

It was rather hard to get to sleep. It wasn't because I was nervous of crashing, if its going to happen, theres nothing I can do about it, but the bus was just going so fast and swaying from side to side. It was like trying to go to sleep on a canoe in the ocean. Eventually, around midnight, I was able to get some sleep. Then around 3am we hit the dirt roads. Jesus, it was awful. constantly rattling and dust everywhere.

Day 188: Sucre

Since today is Sunday, there is a popular market that takes place in a town about an hour away called Tarabuco. Luckily the hostel I am in arranged a bus and took a bunch of tourists there. The drive was really beautiful, being able to see the steep valleys and rolling mountains was breath taking. On the bus was one a French friend that we had gone out with two nights before, Laurent. He was with a group of other people, so we had a great exploring crew.

Tarabuco is a very small town made up of one story mud built buildings. Once we got off the bus, we headed straight for the market. It was not what I was expecting at all! I was thinking there would be a bunch of clothes and stuff for sale; no, they were selling everything from calculators to chickens. Crazy.

We explored for quite a while; however, Tarabuco is very small, so we saw things multiple times. There were a lot of Bolivians wearing very traditional clothes. I learned that the different types of hats that the ladies wear is a symbol of where in Bolivia they are from, even the color matters.

We eventually stumbled upon the town center. There are plenty of touristy shops here! In the center of the park is a statue of a Bolivian soldier standing on top of a Spanish soldier. The Bolivian is holding the Spanish soldiers heart in his hand and has blood running out of his mouth. Apparently, the Bolivian soldiers were quite barbaric back when they fought against the Spanish!

After a while, the town became rather boring once we saw the same thing about 4 times. We made our way back to the bus and waited for our departure.

Once I got back to my hostel, I relaxed for a little bit and then went out to grab a late lunch. Since its Sunday, the streets are rather empty, it's completely opposite from the constant overflow of traffic and the blowing horns. A peaceful beautiful white city!

Later that night I met up with Laurent in the park. We walked around for a bit and then ducked into a restaurant to grab some food and drinks. Now, for all of those who still like to lean on the stereotype that the US's beer tastes like water, try South American beer; the lightest and wateriest beer I have ever had. Luckily, they were serving a dark variety of a beer. We couldn't get enough of it.

After dinner, we headed back to the park and then parted ways, waving another friend goodbye. When I got back to my hostel, the whole place was shut down and locked up. Luckily, someone was close to the door and let me in. I guess because its Sunday everyone goes to sleep early? I hung out with some of the backpackers that were still awake in my dorm then went to sleep.