Feeling sick in Copacabana and Isla del Sol

As I mentioned in the last post, my first day in Copacabana was spent in bed sick. It was unpleasant and miserable. While I was wishing for death, Hannah explored the town and found that there was little to do. Copacabana is a small town on Lake Titicaca with a famous church and one or two bustling streets. It's a stone throws distance from Peru and a departure point to get to Isle de Sol. 

The day after my unplanned rest day (April 17th to be exact), we caught a boat to Isle de Sol with the intention of staying the night. Isle de Sol is the largest island in Lake Titicaca and takes a little over a hour to get too. We ran into someone we had met in La Paz and joined him and his friends at a hostel. This sounds simple enough but Isle de Sol is all uphill and we were dying by the time we reached our hostel. I may have been in high altitude for the last 5 weeks but I never seem to be able to get any air in my lungs. 

Stairs leading into the island. You pay a small entrance fee. 

Shot of the harbor as we climbed to our hostel. 

Girl with llama. So sneaky. She posed and then asked for money. 

The view from our hostel room. Breathtaking. 

After checking into the hostel we were determined to see the sunset from a nice viewpoint at the top of a hill. As great as this sounded I was still feeling sick. The sunset ended up being a bit disappointing due to the clouds and I was happy to head back to sleep. 

The walk to the top of the hill. Random donkeys everywhere. 

Maria. She tried (and semi-succeeded) to sell as items at the top of the hill. She also had a swig of our wine. 

The next day we hiked from the south end of the island to the north- a total of 4 hours following a beautiful hike. You actually pay more to 'enter' the north end of the island via hike (15 soles) than the total you pay to enter the island (5 soles). Once again I was still feeling pretty sick so the hike was a pretty big challenge for me (I was dying). The hike ended at Inca ruins and a beach. The ruins were really interesting (tiny door frames for tiny people, a ceremonial table, etc) but there were also some intense religious experiences taking place. We showed up at the ruins right on time to see a women crying and praying. It's always intense (and strangely beautiful) to see so much spiritual fervency. 

This is the only picture I took from the entire hike. It was hard to appreciate nature when I felt so sick :( 

When we got down to the beach to catch a boat back to the other side of the island things start getting blurry for me. I'm pretty sure my fever came back at this point. I passed out on the boat and almost fainted a few times on the climb back to our hostel (it felt like we were scaling Everest at the time- pure turture). After a nap I was feeling a bit better. We went out for dinner that night and supposedly had the greatest trout (it's so fresh!) of the trip but I couldn't get any down. Early bed time again. 

Of course on the day we were leaving I was magically cured of all illness. Oh well. Isle de Sol was still beautiful. The island's landscape looked unreal (the land looked like an elaborate jigsaw puzzle due to the people using every inch of the land for agriculture) and the water around the island was serene. The lake is so large it felt as though we were in the middle of the ocean. Gorgeous. 

When we got back to Copacabana we were amazed at the amount of people. When we had left the town was practically deserted. Copacabana is the place to be for Easter Sunday and pilgrims were flocking to the Virgin de la Candelaria church. It was built in the 16th century, is one of the most famous churches in Bolivia, and is the most important pilgrimage destination in Bolivia. There's a statue at the church of the Virgin Mary that was built pre-Inca and believed to create miracles. Some people had walked from as far as La Paz to get to Copacabana. The small beach at the dock was covered with tents and food tents had been set up everywhere. It was a giant fiesta. 

People covering the tiny beach to celebrate Easter. 

Another fun event that was taking place in honor of Easter was the blessing of the cars. It seems you can do this everyday for a small price but it was especially popular with the pilgrims during Easter weekend. People decorated their cars in colorful garlands and had the priest bless them. 

A priest blessing a car in front of the church. 

We had every intention of catching the 1:30 bus to Puno (Peru) but things happen that you don't expect. At least, we didn't expect to get on the wrong bus at 1:30. 

We handed our ticket (clearly marked Puno) to the man marking people down for the buses and he directed us to a bus. An hour into our ride we realized we were heading back to La Paz. Luckily, we jumped off, grabbed our things, and a nice lady helped us procure a bus back to Copacabana. To say we were a bit flustered would be putting it mildly. 

We ended up talking with the lady who sold us the bus ticket and got seats for the 6:30 bus the same day. Yay! We spent our extra time using Internet cafés and eating (my trout intake at this point: 3). 

We hoped on the bus and NEXT POST: Entering Peru: Puno and the floating islands. 

Birthday weekend shenanigans: Guns and Roses, Witches Market, Cholita Wrestling, Urban Rush, and Passover at Chabad

I had a fantastic birthday weekend. Our fun filled weekend started with impulse purchases of Guns and Roses tickets. 

We had seen posters all over South America for the last 2 months about this show and had joked about seeing it. I never actually thought that we would go but on the morning of the concert I overheard someone in the hostel talking about where they bought their tickets. We had been under the impression that the concert was sold out (no tickets online) and quickly went to purchase our own. We attempted to find the 'building that looks like a house but it's not marked and it's on the first floor' described by the person in the hostel and (understandably) failed to find it. We ended up finding a store that had a sign that said they sold tickets but they ended up sending us down the street to 'copacabana.' We weren't completely sure what this was but it ended up being a fast food chicken restaurant. While we bought our tickets from a man sitting at a table on the second floor near a sign, the restaurant was bustling downstairs with students. I would have thought the tickets were fake if not for the line of Bolivians that were also buying tickets. We bought tickets for the Campo section (standing) and it took a total of 2 minutes...odd. 

The concert ticket said 8 so we caught a mini-bus to the stadium. I don't remember if I've mentioned the mini-buses here but they're everywhere. They have signs in the front window that show where they're going and you just wave down the one you want. They cost 1.50-2 bolivianos and you just tell them when you want to get out (there never seemed to be set stops). During the ride to the concert we met 3 girls and we ended up hanging out with them for the next few hours thanks to the gigantic line for the show. We arrived around 7 to the largest line I've ever seen (it felt never ending). We ended up standing in line until 8:45 and when the line started moving we had to run (seriously sprinting to keep up with the line). The opening band was already performing when we got to the grounds (I think they were Argentinian and just performed covers) and finished around 9:30. They immediately began sound check and everyone started getting really excited. Yet, 2 1/2 hours later we were all still waiting for them to start. Not cool Guns and Roses, not cool. 

When they did start playing they sounded really good. I don't know many of their songs but it was still nice to listen to. Axel has a really good voice and the musicians are all really talented. A funny moment during the show was when Axel tried to whistle and then made a comment about how hard it was thanks to the altitude. While the concert was good, my favorite part of the experience was watching the crowd. Every Bolivian at the concert was decked out in a leather jacket, bandana on their head, and makeup- true rock attire. I've never seen so much leather in one place. Another added bonus was how short Bolivians are. I was able to see pretty well for only being 5'6. Have I mentioned how I sometimes feel like a giant in Bolivia?

Posing with our tickets during the opening band. 

Stadium wasn't even close to full. 

It's axel rose! 

My best picture is when they stopped moving. End of the concert now. 

The next day we went to the El Alto Sunday market. I wasn't sure what to expect but it ended up being absolutely amazing to see. When you get off the bus you walk up stairs and enter a huge crowd. This market is where Bolivians go to buy all their goods for the week and it did not disappoint with items. There was such a random assortment of items you could buy (clothes, shoes, CDs, car parts, houseware items, military clothes, toys, furniture, etc). The stalls looked never ending. I didn't have any plans on buying anything at first but I ended up spending my day looking for the perfect pair of traditional earrings that I've seen all the women wearing (didn't find them...yet). Yet, Hannah and I did end up buying traditional blankets that people use as backpacks. Other than that, we were good on our car parts. 

Although more shopping would have been fun, and I wish I could have taken more pictures, that area of town is not very nice. We actually got to experience some unsavory moments that we had only read about. Pickpockets use many distraction techniques and I was lucky enough to be spit on. Yay! Specifically, someone spit on my back trying to distract me. Luckily, and weirdly, I'm oblivious to everything and didn't even notice. The only way I noticed the spit on my back was after we experienced a second pickpocket tactic. A water bottle was thrown at Hannah from above and when she looked up a large group of people moved past us. Thankfully, we had nothing in our pockets and our hands on our purses. 

So many stands. It never ended (it did and with food stands...no complaints)

That night we had tickets to a Cholita Wrestling show. From what I've gathered Cholitas are what you call women who wear more traditional clothing in Bolivia. They are indigenous women who wear full colorful skirts, lace tops (dependent on weather), bowler hats, and 2 long braids with tassels at the end. They look like they've stepped out of another time period and I want to own all of their clothes. 

The wrestling was ridiculous. I have no idea whether I would recommend it or not. It looked really fake but it was really entertaining. The show starts with men wrestling (really poorly) in outrages costumes. Finally, the women take the stage. In my opinion, they were much better than the men and involved the crowd more. It was surreal to see these well dressed women throwing each other around. The show lasted for hours but our group left after 2 (which may have been too much time). We were then able to get pictures with some of the wrestlers. All in all, weird night.   

I've been on an island for 2 days without wifi. Crossing the border into Peru in an hr

Cholitas about to knock some sense into each other. 

We have a winner!

Posing with some of the wrestlers. 

The night continued by going out to a club to ring in my birthday. I danced with Bolivians, I had a few drinks, and went to bed. That's all you're getting from me about that night. 

MY BIRTHDAY (I'll now explain the bacon suit)

The next day was really nice. We started the day by walking around the markets (when I write it out it seems like all we did in La Paz was shop...which might be true). We grabbed a great lunch (sushi and Thai food for the birthday girl) and then it was Urbsn Rush time. To clarify, Urban Rush is the thing that adventurous backpackers feel inclined to do in La Paz. I mean, who wouldn't want to scale a 17 floor hotel? 

When you enter the office you immediately see the window you climb out of and a clothing rack full of customes. When we got there most people were dressed as Spider-Man. Of course that made too much sense so I grabbed the bacon costume (I'm Jewish, my family keeps kosher, and it was Passover. Perfect. Perfect). We waited over an hour (just enough time to freak me out completely) and then I was standing in the window. You need to pull yourself so your facing the ground and then you start walking. After 25 meters you let go of the rope and jump the remaining 25 meters. It was exhilarating and I'm never doing it again. I'd rather skydive. 

Having my 5 minute lesson about what to do. Or really it was the 'trust-the-rope-and-don't-freak-out-on-the-wall' pep talk. 

Can you see the fear on my face? I can 

The window. Omg the freaking window was scary. 

I was shaking at this point. 

Climbing down. I slipped once or twice. The wall was surprisingly slippery. 

Cause I'm freeeeeee.......freeee falinnnnn'

But the birthday fun didn't end there! I convinced myself (somehow) that I should go to Chabad's Passover Seder. The one in La Paz is one of the biggest in the world and I had to see it for myself. Let's just say that I was temporary transported to Israel for a night. Seriously, I was the only non-Israeli there. The Seder was really loud (over 1000 people) and unorganized. Never again but not the worse time (decent food and singing, drunk, Israelis are always ok in my book). I continued the night by going out with some Israelis that I met and then went to bed. 

The next day we left for Copacabana. I would write a blog post about that except I was dead to the world on the 16th of April. I love a good fever and this one was GOOD. I spent the day in bed. The next day we went to Isle de Sol...which I will write about!

NEXT BLOG: Isla de Sol, some Copacabana, and crossing into Peru. 

Cycling Death Road and other great decisions

Edit: I wrote an entire post the other day but it disappeared. Urg hostel internet and urg writing blogs on my phone. 

Anyway. 

I absolutely adore La Paz. We arrived to this bustling city by taking a night bus (went well again, knock on wood) and immediately started exploring our surroundings. The city reminds me of a bowl. The buildings are built on hills that surrounded the center of town. It's absolutely beautiful to see at night. We wanted to do a free city walking tour that started in the early afternoon and we were determined to book a Death Road biking trip before it began. We talked to a few different agencies and ended up booking with Gravity Assisted Mountain biking. It was pricier than a lot of other options but we wanted to be sure of our equipment and overall safety. No regrets, it was a great choice and we had a fantastic time. 

The city walking tour was fantastic. Neither Hannah and I can remember the company name but I would highly recommend them (blue shirts?). Our guide was a really knowledgable 18 year old Bolivian who did not hold back his opinions. We learned which museums were boring, why Bolivians hate Chile (they lost a war and the coastline), and that the cops are completely corrupt. The tour lasted 3 hours and my favorite stops were the San Pedro Prison and the tallest building in La Paz (a bank). 

A plaza. So nice. 

The San Pedro prison sounds absolutely insane. The prison is split into different living areas and prisoners rent apartments. In the richest area, the prisoners are able to built onto their apartments and leave the prison during the day. Pretty much, from the way our guide was explaining it, it sounds like a nice gated community. People have set up stores and shops inside and they have a solid economy. The prison also provides the majority of cocaine to the city (1.5 bolivianos for a gram...it's around 7 to a dollar). It sounds absolutely fascinating and he recommended the book Marching Powder (which I will be reading as soon as I can) which talks more about the seedy situation in the prison. 

The tallest building wasn't very interesting but the information that went along with it was incredibly interesting. We learned that when they went to destroy the original building in the spot they discovered the basement filled with dried llama fetuses. Dried Llama fetuses are still sold on the streets for luck, protection, and (I think this was mentioned) to ward off evil spirits. They come in a variety of sizes (from embryo to toddler) and smell odd. When there's a large construction job, people still bury dried fetuses under the foundation. For much larger construction jobs, there have been recent reports of human sacrifice. Sometimes the dried fetuses aren't enough....

The tour ended in the witches market (where you can find the llama fetuses) and we spent the rest of the day shopping. 

Tour guide showing us a shrine that people create with dried llama fetus, statues, and candy decorated with things that they want (money, land, new car, etc). 

Dried llama fetuses galore. 

The next day we dedicated the morning to three museums about Bolivian history (small, clean, interesting, all in Spanish so I was pretty lost). After lunch we went back to the markets to wander and then it was off to the cemetery. The cemetery is really beautiful and completely different to anything I had ever seen. The plots were small windows decorated with flowers and items that represented what the person liked or did in life. The cemetery was huge. Old apartment buildings had been turned into plots. 

Windows in the cemetery. 

Then it was an early bedtime for the death road. 

We met our guides at a British pub in the early morning (there's a picture on FB at me celebrating in the same pub after the ride) and had time to practice on the mountain bikes provided before heading for the first, and newest, part of Yugus Road. We biked around 22 km on the nicely paved part of death road and got situated with going really really freakin' fast. I really enjoyed this part. I think the hardest parts of the ride were keeping my eyes from straying too long on the gorgeous scenery and wanting to go even faster. After a quick snack it was on to the older (and scarier) part of death road. 

I'm fine with bungee jumping. I'm cool with jumping from 15-20 meter rocks into water. The idea of skydiving thrills me. Cycling downhill on gravel? Not gonna lie- this makes me really really nervous. Thankfully, we weren't racing and we could go at our own pace. 

We started riding around 9 and finished around 4. We had a guide who led the way and another who stayed at the back with the stragglers (me). We had 10-15 short stops where Andy (our guide) would explain the upcoming section of road. He told us where we should slow down, where to be more attentive of the edge, and a few stories about deaths or accidents that have taken place (we are riding on the cliff side). Surprising, there have been relatively few accidents since they built the new road. Previously, there was a death a day (mainly motor) and in the last 30 years or something there have only been 17 (I think?) bike deaths. 

We also passed a historically significant section of road where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had their hideout. 

The older road was bumpy, muddy, and had sharp turns galore. We were told to watch out for 'baby heads,' or medium size lose rocks (what a great name). I would love to tell you about the scenery during the ride but I was focused a few feet ahead of me at all times. It was also so bumpy that my arms were bruised the next day (that may also be from gripping the brakes so hard). 

Of course you haven't completely finished death road if you don't have a celebratory beer. While we had our drink, we were given the option of ziplining. Of course, as I had just survived death road, I was keen to put myself in danger again. The zip line was fun but not as exciting as I thought. It's 1555 meters of zip line divided into 3 sections. You're given the option of going 'superman style,' hands free and facing the ground or normal sitting position. I ended up trying both styles before we were driven to our last stop for lunch (it was around 4 so I don't know if I should really call it that) at La Senda Verde Animal Refuge. We had a pasta/salad buffet and the option to either go on a monkey tour or swim in the river. I opted for swimming in the river and learned very quickly that I'm a terrible swimmer (it was fun but had a really strong current. Andy saved me once or twice). 

The drive back was really fun because we stopped for beer and the bus became a mini-party bus. We were driving on death road at night (once again, thank god for beer) and it was pretty intimidating. We continued our death road celebration at the pub later that night. All in all, it was a tiring but wonderful day. 

View from the beginning of the death ride. 

A shot of the slim road that we biked. 

Being thrown off the cliff by Hannah and Andy. 

Next post: BIRTHDAY WEEKEND 

100% salt, 100% fun: Salar de Uyuni Tour

Recovering from another overnight bus in a hotel in La Paz. We caught another semi-cama with the Trans Turistico Omar bus company. It was decent enough and I was able to sleep. The only problems were that we were constantly stopping to let people off and on (I swear sometimes it was at a random restaurant or street corner) and there weren't enough seats (there was a man sleeping in the aisle at one point). Yet, nothing was stolen and we made it in less than 12 hrs. A+ bus ride. 

So where have I been for the last week? 

Here's where I've been. 

Unlike a lot of travelers, we decided to start our tour from the city of Tupiza. It tends to be a little more expensive and, unlike leaving from the city of Uyuni, you have to do a 3-day trip or more (it's farther away) but it was a fantastic decision. 

For the last few months we've been warned that we should expect our tour jeep driver to be drunk throughout the trip. For example, we've heard stories of people having to drive because their drivers were to drunk. Thankfully (for us), alcoholic drivers seem to come out of Uyuni and not Tupiza. Not only was our driver not drunk, but the tours out of Tupiza have less people per jeep,fewer cars following the same path, and (in my opinion) better cars. On our first (and only day) in Tupiza we spent the day talking to different tour agencies to find out prices, type of jeep, accommodation, etc. We ended up booking 5 days with Tupiza Tours. Not many people book that many days but we all knew each other (4 people in a jeep and we already knew we could tolerate each other) and we wanted to hike a volcano. 

Our first day was really fun and definitely different. We met out driver and cook (that's right, we had a cook and she was amazing). They didn't speak any English and were really nice. We found out that they've been partners for tours for 2 years and the driver (finally) won her over to date 6 months ago. Adorable. As I understand minimal Spanish, and Simon speaks fluent Spanish, Simon acted as translator for most of the trip. 

A lot of time during the 5 days was spent driving from Tupiza to Solar de Uyuni to Uyuni. Although the views were incredible, there's not much to say about a lot of the hours spent in the car. We talked, sang, danced in our seats and slept (a lot). 

But the other stuff! 

Day 1: Saw the Sillar mountain range, walked around ruins from an old Spanish settlement (learned that they had African slaves that they had brought to work in the town but they kept dying because they couldn't adjust to the altitude), stopped in a small village to eat lunch (and hung out with a baby llama), drove by Ulturunca volcano, saw llamas with more llamas with a side of llamas, saw Ostriches and Vicuñas (look like a cross between llama and deer), and had our jeep break down. The jeep breakdown was hilarious and fun. We rocked out to music, tested how altitude affects breathing by running sprints, and just hung out in nature for an hour and a half. Good times were had by all. 

Sillar mountain range. 

Llamas everywhere. 

Hannah running away from the scary baby llama

Ruins of an old city. That mountain doesn't even look real but I swear my camera doesn't even capture how amazing the colors were. 

Day 2: So many lagoons. Lagoon Hedionda Sur, a bunch of other pretty lagoons, relaxing in a hot spring, Laguna verde, lunch at Laguna Blanca (white due to minerals) with Licancabur Volcano in the backdrop, jumping pictures in the Dali Desert (so named because it reminded the explorers who named it of Dali's paintings),geysers, and Laguna Colorada (the pink lagoon! It was pink!)

Hot spring. 

Lagoon blanco. 

Lagoon Colorada. Someone else made that swirl. My camera makes the water look orange. 

Geysers. When there's a lot of pressure nearby towns use the geysers as a source of power. 

Day 3: We convinced our driver to start the day 30 minutes early so we could be the first car at every site. Arbol de Piedra (a rock formation that looks like a tree), 5 more pretty lagoons with lots of flamingos, lunch at Valle de Rocas (gorgeous rock formations that made you feel as though you were on another planet), drive through Salar de Chiquana (smaller and only 35% salt) and last but certainly not least, stay at a hotel made completely out of salt. The hotel was at the edge of the Salar de Uyuni. Spent the evening planning out what kind of pictures we wanted at the salt flats. 

Arbol de Piedra. More jumping pics happened here. 

Hello gorgeous. Another pretty lagoon 

Flamingos relaxing in a lagoon. I always thought they were more pink. 

Beautiful landscape from the drive. Can you believe I took this from a moving car?

Crazy rock formations. That's me in the distance and a volcano in the way distance. 

Bridget and I checking to make sure the salt hotel was truly made of salt. It was. 

Day 4: the big day. The day we were truly looking forward too. Woke up at 4:30 and drove out to the salt flats for the sunrise. From there we drove to Isla de Pescado (fish island...but has nothing to do with fish?), an island in the middle of salt covered with giant cacti. Then, finally, picture and rolling around in the salt time. We took tons of pictures and spent 4 hours enjoying the view. We had more time than average because we were doing our extra day. The rest of the day was spent chilling in a tiny town at the edge of the salt flats. We did laundry, journaled, and relaxed before going to bed at a crazy early hour. 

Sunrise on the Salar de Uyuni. You really can't take a bad picture there. 

Cacti island in the middle of salt? Why not. Picture from the top. 

Backpackers never stop backpacking. 

Tiny tiny town and first sighting of the volcano. 

Day 5: woke up before the sunrise and got a ride to the base of the volcano. From there we hiked with our 57 year old bolivian guide (who outpaced us the entire time) for 5 hours to the way top of the volcano. I'm not kidding or exaggerating when I say that the hike was completely vertical at times and I was on my knees and hands struggling to climb. Not only was it vertical for large portions of time but I was slowly getting altitude sickness as we ascended. Thank god for coca leaves and lots of breaks. The hike down was just as crazy but took half the time. Before jumping in the car and heading to Uyuni, we saw a cave full of mummies. The mummies were just sitting around the cave and it felt eerie and intrusive to be there. It was amazing but pretty odd to be so close to mummies. We ended our tour with a quick stop at a train graveyard. 

At the top. I look better than I felt. 

A shot of part of the climb up. 

Hello mummy. They're not sure how they were killed but they think they were important to their tribe since they had enlarged skulls. 

Trains. Trains for days. 

It was an amazing experience. The salt flats are unbelievable and don't feel real. I also learned the hard way that rolling around in salt ruins your clothes (worth it).  

NEXT POST: La Paz and cycling the death road