During the night, I’ve managed to take out my earplugs while
dreaming and consequently didn’t sleep as well.
Not that it matters too much, as we only have a lazy day on a bus ahead
of us, so maybe I can get some sleep there.
We rush around in order to get ready in time – we need to be
at bus terminal by 7am. It’s a delicious
breakfast again, and we’re rather sorry that we have to rush off and leave.
Outside the hostal, we seek a taxi. The hostal owners son is looking for one for
us, however one arrives in the street that will suit us. We negotiate the fare (only 5 soles!) and arrive
at terminal at 7.15am. Scheduled departure
is 7.30am, but bus is late, although we spend a while fretting that we’ve
somehow managed to miss it. We’re on a
small line and it is somewhat less organised than our friends at Cruz del
Sur. Eventually the bus arrives. It looks fancy enough, and we leave at 8am.
The trip along the south shore of Lake Titicaca is full of
memories, although I am surprised at what seems to have been an explosion of
construction of half-built houses. It
looks like everyone has their own little hovel and an acre or two of land. Subsistence farming – a sure way to keep the
population poor. Not that much farming
appears to be going on in most places.
There’s definitely some – potatoes, quinoa and other vegetables,
scattered cows/sheep/llamas etc. The
road is also now a toll road. I don’t
remember that being the case previously, and it certainly hasn’t resulted in
any major improvements to the road itself.
The bus has proved to be a bit dodgier than at first
appearance. During the trip, the smell
of urine has become stronger. It turns
out that the toilet isn’t flushing and the urine deposited by our fellow
passengers is just building up in the toilet bowl. Nice.
Still, they continue insisting on using it. Seems nobody thought to go to the toilet
BEFORE the bus left this morning!
The border crossing into Bolivia is fairly easy, apart from
lots of queuing at both Peru and Bolivian side.
Andrea gives some leftover juices from the Cruz del Sur bus trip to two
boys at Peru checkpoint, and an alfahor to the girl. The boys laugh mercilessly at her, so Andrea
gives her a couple of soles to buy something for herself. She seems pleased.
I have a moment or two of worry as the Bolivian immigration
official disappears with my passport for two minutes to check something but
comes back and all is OK. Let’s hope
nothing dodgy happened… Off we go.
Copacabana is a shock – much better developed than we
imagined, although it could still be significantly improved (scattered
rubbish!). It’s certainly nicer than
Puno. It has a very touristy feel, with plenty
of feral, smelly hippies about.
We lunch at the beachfront café and sadly, it was
disappointing. All items we most at a
tepid temperature rather than being hot!
On the beach, we try to buy tickets for trip to Isla del Sol
from our preferred supplier but a family member has recently died, so the owner
is off at the funeral. The very small
daughter left in charge of the kiosk assures us that if we turn up in the
morning, all will be OK.
We wander the streets.
There’s a huge, garish church on top of the hill in the centre of town. It’s also surrounded by stall after stall,
selling either religious tat for those entering the church, or tourist stuff
for the hordes wandering past. Back to
the hotel for a rest and planning.
Dinner is in the “Thai Palace” – interesting. My Indian inspired meals were good, although
the naan was far from typical. The chef/owner
is trying new things (for Bolivia, and Peru/Chile for that matter) – imagine
sushi made with quinoa instead of rice.
We were joined by a lovely Korean girl who was travelling by herself. We chat a lot and have a very pleasant
evening.
Back to hotel. Town appears
to be nice and quiet tonight. Will try
to sleep without earplugs…
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