La Paz & Bolivia-Belly
Well the last news I was still in Peru, about to visit the floating islands on Lake Titicaca which was quite nice, incredibly incredibly touristy and kind of disturbing.. but I'm sure the 40 tour-boats full of people got some great photos!
We left the next day for Bolivia and got a nice bus that took us all the way to Copacabana on the other side of Titicaca and made all of the visa changes easy.. we were even treated with a marching brass band as we crossed the border, complete with dancing man and women doing all kinds of funny things.
Copacabana is a very nice little place, and although we failed to book into our preferred hostel La Cupula, we found a cheapy for the night complete with hot water shower almost on top of the toilet. That night the rain turned to ice on the streets, and the town lost power just as we finished our dinner (thankfully that meant leaving the traditional pan flute band behind - if I never hear another pan flute version of Simon & Garfunkle I will be very very happy). We found our way home through very dark streets that night.
The next morning we rushed off to get the boat to Isla del Sol, a very nice 2 hour trip out there and most of the day walking from the north to the south of the island, loving the views and almost mediterranian landscape. We found a nice place for the night and payed too much for lunch.. and ended up running rather short on money for dinner and breakfast as our hostel decided that brekky *wasnt* included like we thought.. the boat back was also more expensive than we were told.. but we all managed to get back to the mainland for a luxurious night in La Cupula, one of the nicest hostels Ive stayed in, complete with marvellous restaurant, and after much mathematics, a chocolate fondue which we figured we could afford.
The next day we were back on a bus to La Paz which was only a 3.5 hour trip.. but my stomach started seriously hurting an hour in and didnt stop for the whole night.. must have been that dodgy coffee on Isla del Sol.. I didnt think he boiled the water for 5 mins.....
So we booked into Adventure Brew Hostel, where we still are right now, a week on.. very fun place, lots of fun people and right now, truckloads of aussies. The hostel has a microbrewery on-premesis, which makes a better beer than Bolivia's standard Pacena, and one free beer every night doesnt hurt (except when your belly is achin' already).
So its been fun and games here for the most part.. In the first couple of days we did some bike rides, the notoriously famous 'Worlds Most Dangerous Road' was a blast, a bit of a scare, and totally beautiful, starting around snow-covered peaks, winding down for hours into tropical jungle heat. The day before that we went on a newly opened 'Ghost Ride' which was a lot of fun also, with some technical riding and lots of downhill dirtroad, finishing up in an old castle built by one of Bolivia's banished leaders and now a hotel with tragic bathrooms.
Ive had a few recurrences of my stomach problems, not too sure if its continual bad food or some kind of bug thats taken residence inside of me.. but Im taking it easy for now and enjoying the cheap dvds available. A big group of us are off to Cochabamba tomorrow for some dance party in an old hotel, then cruising down to Uyuni to the salt flats for some mind-bending optical illusions (and photos of course).. So I'll hopefully be in Argentina next week for some time before getting to the UK to meet up with many important people which I'm really looking forward to !
Soooo.. time for some photo links....
Uros Islands - Peru
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Isla del Sol & Copacabana - Bolivia
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Ghost Ride - Bolivia
---
World's Most Dangerous Road - Bolivia
---
La Paz - Bolivia
---
Ok, wish my belly luck !
Bye all,
Brendon
We left the next day for Bolivia and got a nice bus that took us all the way to Copacabana on the other side of Titicaca and made all of the visa changes easy.. we were even treated with a marching brass band as we crossed the border, complete with dancing man and women doing all kinds of funny things.
Copacabana is a very nice little place, and although we failed to book into our preferred hostel La Cupula, we found a cheapy for the night complete with hot water shower almost on top of the toilet. That night the rain turned to ice on the streets, and the town lost power just as we finished our dinner (thankfully that meant leaving the traditional pan flute band behind - if I never hear another pan flute version of Simon & Garfunkle I will be very very happy). We found our way home through very dark streets that night.
The next morning we rushed off to get the boat to Isla del Sol, a very nice 2 hour trip out there and most of the day walking from the north to the south of the island, loving the views and almost mediterranian landscape. We found a nice place for the night and payed too much for lunch.. and ended up running rather short on money for dinner and breakfast as our hostel decided that brekky *wasnt* included like we thought.. the boat back was also more expensive than we were told.. but we all managed to get back to the mainland for a luxurious night in La Cupula, one of the nicest hostels Ive stayed in, complete with marvellous restaurant, and after much mathematics, a chocolate fondue which we figured we could afford.
The next day we were back on a bus to La Paz which was only a 3.5 hour trip.. but my stomach started seriously hurting an hour in and didnt stop for the whole night.. must have been that dodgy coffee on Isla del Sol.. I didnt think he boiled the water for 5 mins.....
So we booked into Adventure Brew Hostel, where we still are right now, a week on.. very fun place, lots of fun people and right now, truckloads of aussies. The hostel has a microbrewery on-premesis, which makes a better beer than Bolivia's standard Pacena, and one free beer every night doesnt hurt (except when your belly is achin' already).
So its been fun and games here for the most part.. In the first couple of days we did some bike rides, the notoriously famous 'Worlds Most Dangerous Road' was a blast, a bit of a scare, and totally beautiful, starting around snow-covered peaks, winding down for hours into tropical jungle heat. The day before that we went on a newly opened 'Ghost Ride' which was a lot of fun also, with some technical riding and lots of downhill dirtroad, finishing up in an old castle built by one of Bolivia's banished leaders and now a hotel with tragic bathrooms.
Ive had a few recurrences of my stomach problems, not too sure if its continual bad food or some kind of bug thats taken residence inside of me.. but Im taking it easy for now and enjoying the cheap dvds available. A big group of us are off to Cochabamba tomorrow for some dance party in an old hotel, then cruising down to Uyuni to the salt flats for some mind-bending optical illusions (and photos of course).. So I'll hopefully be in Argentina next week for some time before getting to the UK to meet up with many important people which I'm really looking forward to !
Soooo.. time for some photo links....
Uros Islands - Peru
---
Isla del Sol & Copacabana - Bolivia
---
Ghost Ride - Bolivia
---
World's Most Dangerous Road - Bolivia
---
La Paz - Bolivia
---
Ok, wish my belly luck !
Bye all,
Brendon