Copacabana and La Paz

So from puno we caught a bus to the Bolivian border. It only took two hours and we were advised by our tour guide, Diana, that we had to ignore her at the border because if she is seen working in Bolivia she would get fined. Oh Geckoes, thats so legal of you! anyway, the place was nice, high on a hill. and the toilets sign said ´Go to the toilet´. Terry made a comment that its a little colder in Bolivia than Peru. He wasnt wrong.

After getting our passports stamped, Natalie and i went to check out the prices of Pringles in Bolivia... 2soles less than Peru. Not bad. (about $1 NZ). So with our Bolivianoes in hand we got back on the bus and headed to Copacabana, a small lake side town thats full of traveling hippies. Nice enough though. The view of the lake was impressive... is till cant fathom that its not the ocean. Tis pretty vast for a lake.The first afternoon in Copacabana we wandered the Plaza and looked at the various stall. I bought a black hat, and some fake US $100 notes. At easter you can buy miniture houses, cars, houses and suitcases full of paper money and then if you burn it apparently you get what you burnt. I havnt burnt mine, but sometimes it can work that way too.

Nicky, Claire, Katrina and i then thought a nice spot of kayaking would be nice.. we hired two doubles and headed to the point , just passed all the boats in the bay. Claire and Katrina were in the lead, when a guy in army uniform headed out on a little rock wall and started yelling for them to not go any further. Some kind of security thing, not quite sure. But we just floated looking out toward the horizon. The sky was pale blue at the horizon and grew darker higher in the sky. The clouds were big , white and fluffy. They reminded me of the clouds in Brazil (my favourite) , and then Nicky said ´we are close to Brazil´, so thatl explain it.

After our 30minutes kayaking, we met up with the group and walked up to the top of one of many surrounding hills . The air was really thin so we went slow, there was also a few of us not feeling well...maybe also from the altitude. It was a steep walk up a cobblestone road, along which were crosses for the Stations of the Corss where people stopp when walking the path at easter.
At the top of the road we stopped for a view of the lake. There was a grass verg before the cliff and i thought it would be a great place for a nap. But alas, we carried on up steps to the top of the hill. There are more religous statues and a small area for local ladies and their stalls. Passed these is a spot to sit in aw of the lake. It was midafternoon, so the perfect amount of sunlight, from the right direction. In the opposite direction rain clouds looked tumultuous in the distance :P . So we didnt stay long because we were afraid we would get caught in the rain.

For dinner we ended up at a restaurant along the small main street. I ordered the vegetairian set menu, and boy, what a menu! Soup, salad buffet, bread, main of rice and veggies, and cake for dessert. All of which cost 18bolivianos...so about $4NZ!! i love bolivia!!

9th April
The next day we were going to go on a tour to an Isla del Sol...which has some sun worship temple ruins. There is also a Moon island but apparently you cant take a half day tour there. We decided not to go because we would have to rush to catch our afternoon bus, and the lonely planet says one whole day isnt enough...so we figured, how good could a half day be?.
Instead we pottered around in the town, went to a cafe to just sit and discuss our future Bolivia plans...we didnt really get much done. But Nicky had an iced coffee, and man, it was the nicest iced coffee on the continent so far! It had chocolate icecream.elaborate! Claire then ordered an iced Chocolate due to food envy. We shared some nachoes then went to the hotel to gather our things and get on another bus.

The busride to La Paz was quite short, maybe 4hours. But i was discussing with Natalie at the time, that the short ones are the hardest...you dont really make yourself settle in , so your kinda antsy the entire way. So i sat there...antsy. Terry pointed out all the snow covered mountains, hes good like that, and then me and Natalie just rocked out to our mp3s. For some reason, on the back wall of the bus there was a big mirror and below that a picture of a lion, jaguar and tiger next to each other in the african plains...it was a nice photoshop collage but i didnt understand why it was in the bus.

La Paz is 3700metres above sealevel, and the road into the city comes through one of the highest suburbs so there is a great first view of the city, the busdriver even stopped for us to take some photos. In the city centre there are highrises and on the hills there are makeshift mudbrick houses...so in general the city looks very brown, and kinda blends in with the hills.
We arrived at our hotel...El Dorado, and made ourselves at home. The main street runs along the valley and so all the surrounding areas are up steep hills off the main street. We searched for a restaurant but in our area there were only cafes, so i had an empanada, and a chocolate-chip muffin.

10th April
We went to the Witches Market at 10am with our guide, Diana. It is about 12 blocks from the hotel, and on the way we passed the Cathedral, very nice. The alter is covered in gold from the Potosí mines (central Bolivia).
Outside the church were hundreds of stalls full of easter eggs! and surrounding the plaza are flower stalls.

We headed up the hill to the market and once at the street you could tell. The stench was horrible. Outside each shop in the Witches market there are stalls with shelves full of Llama fetus´s and dried lamb carcasses and animal skins hanging from the shop front. There were Jaguar and anaconda skins. I was surprised at how upset it made me, because i expected to see more of that kinda thing in South America and it hasnt been as extreme as i imagined. But i think it was mainly the smell that got to me. I asked how they dried the animals without them rotting, and the lady said a week in the sun is all. Ew.

After the Witches market we kept walking up the hill until we found the clothes market.. at the time it didnt seem like much , but i went again today (Sunday) and it was packed! and the stalls went on forever. Anyway, claire and i found a shop that had jeans , which is what she needed, and ...Cordiroy pants!! horay. ive wanted a pair for quite some time now, and only opshops have them in NZ , and they never fit. But i bought a pair of black cord pants and now my life is complete.

We wandered a little longer , Nicky bought some things too, then we went to the hotel. We went for dinner to a bar that Diana suggested. They had happy hour from 7until 10. .. three hour long happy hours are the best. So we got a round then i ordered the vegetarian lasagne, and boy was i glad i didnt get the curry. The lasagne was perfect, cheesey and the right kind of veggies and the perfect size. So i finished satisfied. We were wanting the place to liven up a little but it was only 9pm .. we made Terry jive a little then we headed home...terry gave be a dance in the foyer of the hotel. Best dancer ive ever seen. He said Jive lessons are everywhere in England and so it must be the same in New Zealand...he couldnt be more wrong this time. The girls got it in their head that they wanted icecream so we walked the mainstreet to find a good place. Most of them dont have an area to sit and eat, and it was too cold outside to mill about ..but eventually we found Dumbo´s , a family restaurant with a bar above playing live piano music... made the atmosphere fell a little confused. But it was nice. and i enjoyed watching the cildren make their way around all the chairs that were cluttering the resturant...most of them just took to crawling, easier that way ...dont have to talk to anyone..bee line to the playground. Upsetting that in all of South America the playgrounds have age limits.

11th April
Spent the day organising what to do. The girls decided to go on to Cochabamba while i stay in La Paz and wait for Chris, my new american boy, to arrive from Florida. We four plus the two girls from the tour, nat and pat moved from the Hotel to a hostel on the other side of town. One of the best hostels ever. it was just like staying at an Irish Pub! full of english , and irish and good food, like chips and gravy and proper whisky, Jack Daniels, $5NZ a glass. We had a drink with Diana before she headed off to Potosí with a friend. Then we had more chips, started watching Chicago, and then went on the internet.

12th April
The others left for Cochabamba and i walked to the markets from the busstation. This city has such a strange layout, with the main road being like a river through the valley. I like it. This would be one of my favourite cities in South America. Anyway the markets were chocablock! i was afraid nothing would be open but i couldnt have been more wrong. The streets were practically blocked because of the amount of people and stalls. The markets have an ingenious design, with each street being a certain type of stalls. there were back to school places, with exercise books and school shoes, then lamp streets, then toy streets, clothe streets, meat streets, underwear streets... it was great fun. Didnt get the things i was wanting but had a good time none the less.
Checked out of the hostel and made my way back to the origonal hotel for a night. and now here i am on the internet after having a slice of pizza. There was a huge thinderstorm before and it hailed and when i crossed the street to get to the pizza place i got soaked, even though i had my umbrella. Its stopped raining now though.

Tomorrow head to Torotoro National park where there are over 2500dinosaur footprints!!!