Lake Titicaca

After La Paz, we caught a relatively short bus ride to Lake Titicaca which is one of the highest altitude lakes in the world. It's huge and sits on the border between Bolivia and Peru. We stayed in Copacabana (the original one, whose name was later stolen by the Brazilian beach) and took a day excursion to Isla del Sol, an island in the middle of the lake. It is called Isla del Sol because it is one of the sites of the Incan sun creation myth.

This trip was another one of my favorite things we did during South America, so be sure to take in all the pictures below! The people who live on Isla del Sol live a remarkably primitive lifestyle that doesn't seem to have changed much since the days of the Incas.

Our bus crossed a portion of the lake by ferry. First we all got off and road a little boat across, while our bus was carried over on a barge. We were nervous it would sink with everything we owned in the cargo underneath!

See the bus on the barge?

Our lake taxi

Incan king, Manco Kapac (I believe) greeting us on the shore

We sat on top of this boat for about 2-3 hours on the way across the lake to Isla del Sol

Isla del Sol

Bluebonnets!

All the other tourists went to visit the site of the original sun creation myth then were driven by boat around to the bottom of the island where we were due to meet for lunch. We opted to hike to the bottom of the island, a relatively arduous trail at such a high altitude, but SO worth the view!

Beautiful farm land, dotted with peasants houses. They do not have electricity or running water, and very rarely take a boat to Copacabana on the mainland to sell their crops and shop.

Chanchito (piggy)

This little girl (Ruta Maria I think) chased us down and offered to lead us to the village on the other side of the island if we would give her some candy.

This guy demanded we pay him when he caught us taking pictures of his family's llamas. We gave our change to his older brother and he was highly offended. He followed us for about 10 minutes before we shook him off.

Lunch on the hillside

Boats made entirely from reeds

Waiting for the ferry back to the mainland

Touristy floating islands made from dried reeds

The cathedral in Copacabana, definitely an overwhelming structure on this otherwise sleepy lakeside town

La Paz

La Paz is capital city that sits at the highest altitude in the world. We had been adjusting to the altitude all through NW Argentina and southern Bolivia but even two weeks later we were still breathless after walking all around La Paz. It's definitely a good idea to take it easy when you're adjusting to the altitude so we took advantage of that over the 4-5 days we were in Bolivia's capital. We had planned to take a trip to see the pampas by hopping a small carrier plane to bypass the treacherous roads to Rurrenabaque, the jungle city closest to La Paz. Unfortunately, timing didn't work out (which ended up being fortuitous when we heard a week later that there was a transport strike and people were stranded there for several days), so we just took our time in La Paz and did lots of shopping in the Witch's Market and the Mercado Negro (that's right, black market). We picked up lots of good souvenirs for family and friends and some hiking boots (about $35 US) and sleeping bags ($40 US) at the black market for CHEAP (muy borrato!). Bolivia's exchange rate makes shopping very favorable to Americans, even if applying for the visa to enter the country is a hassle.

The capitol

You can tell when it's time for lunch because all the women sit down at their stands and have a bowl of soup! (no disposables either, these ladies use dishes and silverware)

Bolivia may be a poor country but they take pride in their manicured green space

Llama fetuses at the Witch's Market. People bury these beneath the foundation of a new construction project to bring good luck to the people that will live or work in the building.

love these buses

I think this must have been a wedding or family celebration of some sort because these cholitas were wearing their snazziest skirts and bowlers!

La Paz

ticky tacky little boxes

Everyone carries their loads on their backs, especially the women. You'll almost never see a woman without a child tied to their back or some other heavy load of goods to sell.

Bolivia's version of the whirling dervish. Jaja. I don't know what this celebration was but it was awesome.

Potosi

After Sucre, we were in a hurry to get to La Paz, but we HAD to stop in Potosi along the way. On the way, the bus ascends for hours until you finally reach the bowl and roll over the peaks to see the breathtaking spread of the city in the valley below. Houses cling to the steep sides of the mountains and it looks more like a sold out crowd at a futbol stadium than a city. Potosi sits at a higher altitude than any other major city in the world.

Historically, Potosi is probably the most important city in Bolivia. At the beginning of colonialism, it was the 2nd richest city IN THE WORLD. Now it's one of the poorest. The Spanish mined it for all of its silver which they sent back to Spain. We were tempted to check out one of the silver mines there but from all of the reviews I read and heard, while it is fascinating, it's mostly dismal and depressing to see the conditions that the miners still work in. This is one of the only industries left in this city and men are basically forced into very dangerous working conditions in order to support their families. Many die at a young age in their 40's or 50's after years of inhaling the mine dust, if they survive the variety of tragic accidents that happen there.

We had considered staying overnight in Potosi but we were so depressed after our day trip that we just immediately caught an overnight bus to La Paz. We did get a chance to check out the old mint in Potosi, where much of the world's coins were minted during colonialism. Now, ironically, Bolivia's coins are minted somewhere in Germany and sent over to the former silver capital of the world.

The plazas still have a wealthy and prosperous look to them left over from centuries ago

A "sculpture" in homage to the miners who work the mountain

Another example of "livin' la vida." It's not such a bad life!

The mint