25/08/2019 - Travel day to La Paz, Bolivia

We got up and packed our things, and carried them down the mountain to the edge of the water. Today I had enough strength to carry my own bag, much to Josh’s relief! We bought our ferry tickets from a group of men sat around a concrete slab of a table, they were dressed smart, in beautiful felt hats, smoking, sharing a bottle of coca cola (probably with a secret something in it) and chewing on coca leaves. Their jobs looked pretty appealing, only hopping out of their seats to greet ferries, so as to charge the 10 Bolivianos per person for entering the community. We were early, but certainly not the first to arrive. We sat in the beautiful sunshine – it is clear why the island has its name – the island of the sun! The stray dog that had followed us home last night found us and tucked itself up between Josh and I, curled up and had a nap, I suppose seeking protection from the other stray dogs. It was so cute, we fell in love with her a little bit and wished we could keep her! Our ferry arrived and so we queued along the pontoon before loading our bags into the middle of the little boat, and joining some of the fellow passengers on the roof of the boat. I am sure we far exceeded maximum capacity of the boat, the downstairs was full, and on the top deck we were squeezed onto a sort of makeshift bench. Still, it made for a beautiful ride across lake Titicaca!

Although we were wearing our jackets, the sun was so strong on our faces that Josh wore his wide brimmed hat and I tried to face the shade and avoid the rays, the altitude must make those rays stronger but it is easy to forget when you are on a lake that is so deceiving that you feel like you are at sea! We landed ashore in Copacabana and walked up the main street to a café. We dumped our bags and I waited with them whilst Josh kindly went to the ATM and sorted us some bus tickets from one of the travel agencies along the road. We had some breakfast, I braved some cereal and it was a triumph so things are definitely slowly improving! We got on our bus at 13:30 and were on our way to our next destination, La Paz. About an hour into the journey, when we had made ourselves comfortable, kicked back and put our podcasts on, we came to a halt and everyone started getting off. We weren’t the only ones looking around feeling a bit puzzled. Another passenger explained to us that we, and the bus, had to get separate ferries across the lake to continue the journey to La Paz. We still don’t know which lake or where we were, but obliged as necessary. We queued for our 20p ticket, hopped on a little boat and got taken across the water, where we stood and waited for our bus to appear. The vehicles came across the water on these funny flat engine powered bricks, which looked very precarious, but it worked! We got back on our bus and got comfy again, napping to some podcasts along the way. We got dropped off at the bus terminal in La Paz, carried our things to a taxi kiosk – we have been warned to make sure we only get official taxis here. We got driven through the city, enjoying the hustle and bustle around us (even though it is Sunday!), the rough around the edges look, the beautiful old architecture set against the mountains and the valley, in contrast to the high rise buildings and the numerous shack like houses too. We checked into the hostel and got taken inside what feels like a huge old house to the top floor, into a huge bedroom. In our room we have a double bed, a single bed, shared bathroom and kitchen facilities, breakfast included, all for a price of about £5 each, which, so far, has been roughly our budget for accommodation. We flopped onto the bed, it was really comfy and there is a nice warm feather duvet too! Josh ordered us a Mexican on Uber eats, and we chilled in our room for the evening.