Bolivia Part 1
2 november 2015 - Santiago, Chili
Bolivia (traveling with the family)
We were going to meet up with Monika and Xandi in Copacabana, at the Lake Titicaca. We bought tickets for a direct bus (especially asked for a direct) from Cusco to Copacabana, but in South America apparently that translates to 2 transits, of which one public collectivo! By now nothing surprised us anymore.
We found a very nice and cheap hostel (4 dollar pp) and met up with Pam’s parents later that day. We had perfect weather and enjoyed the possibility to sit at outdoor terraces finally again drinking true Bolivian wine and sharing stories.
Although Copacabana was a nice cozy town, the main reason to come here was to get to Isla del Sol, the island in the middle of Lake Titicaca. We took a (very slow) boat, yet we could feel the cold morning breeze on the deck, but the weather was great and the view was stunning. As on top of the bill, slowly the snow peaked mountains of the Andes started revealing themselves under a clear blue sky. The atmosphere on the island was very ‘Tranquil’ and completely different from any other place we had been so far. With the huge lake surrounding the island and the sunny weather, it mostly reminded us of an island in Croatia, and we could not imagine being at a lake at 4000m altitude: the world’s highest located lake! We hiked from the north-side of the island to the south-side. There we booked a cheap hotel and sat down with drinks for the rest of the afternoon.
The next morning we took the boat back to Copacabana, and from there we wanted to take a bus to Sorata. Unfortunately, due to a bus strike (which apparently is very common in Bolivia), no buses were leaving soon. We chose to take it easy, spend another night in Copacabana and leave early the next morning.
After two bus rides and a ferry, we arrived in Sorata: a village located in the mountains of the North-west of Bolivia. Sorata is a small village within a beautiful valley and a perfect base for trekking. We chose for a 3 day trekking with a glacier-lake as end goal. The first day we hiked for 3 hours to our base camp at the Laguna Chillata, where a herd of Lama’s was grazing around. It was clouded and Pam was not feeling too good, so we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling and preparing for the evening with setting up the tents and preparing the food.
The next morning, we left early since we had a long walk ahead of us. The weather was a bit better, but Pam still was not feeling too good and had huge difficulties with the hike up. About halfway Pam decided to go back. Sven joined her, and the “oldies” bravely continued this strenuous hike. :) They were rewarded with a brief view of the glacier through the fog, and then also returned.
After an easy hike back the next day, Sven left to La Paz to have a quiet day of working on his laptop, and Pam, Mo and Xandi stayed one more day in Sorata. After reuniting in La Paz, we sorted out our schedule for the next couple of weeks, starting with a Jungle Tour in the Amazon.
We were going to meet up with Monika and Xandi in Copacabana, at the Lake Titicaca. We bought tickets for a direct bus (especially asked for a direct) from Cusco to Copacabana, but in South America apparently that translates to 2 transits, of which one public collectivo! By now nothing surprised us anymore.
We found a very nice and cheap hostel (4 dollar pp) and met up with Pam’s parents later that day. We had perfect weather and enjoyed the possibility to sit at outdoor terraces finally again drinking true Bolivian wine and sharing stories.
Although Copacabana was a nice cozy town, the main reason to come here was to get to Isla del Sol, the island in the middle of Lake Titicaca. We took a (very slow) boat, yet we could feel the cold morning breeze on the deck, but the weather was great and the view was stunning. As on top of the bill, slowly the snow peaked mountains of the Andes started revealing themselves under a clear blue sky. The atmosphere on the island was very ‘Tranquil’ and completely different from any other place we had been so far. With the huge lake surrounding the island and the sunny weather, it mostly reminded us of an island in Croatia, and we could not imagine being at a lake at 4000m altitude: the world’s highest located lake! We hiked from the north-side of the island to the south-side. There we booked a cheap hotel and sat down with drinks for the rest of the afternoon.
The next morning we took the boat back to Copacabana, and from there we wanted to take a bus to Sorata. Unfortunately, due to a bus strike (which apparently is very common in Bolivia), no buses were leaving soon. We chose to take it easy, spend another night in Copacabana and leave early the next morning.
After two bus rides and a ferry, we arrived in Sorata: a village located in the mountains of the North-west of Bolivia. Sorata is a small village within a beautiful valley and a perfect base for trekking. We chose for a 3 day trekking with a glacier-lake as end goal. The first day we hiked for 3 hours to our base camp at the Laguna Chillata, where a herd of Lama’s was grazing around. It was clouded and Pam was not feeling too good, so we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling and preparing for the evening with setting up the tents and preparing the food.
The next morning, we left early since we had a long walk ahead of us. The weather was a bit better, but Pam still was not feeling too good and had huge difficulties with the hike up. About halfway Pam decided to go back. Sven joined her, and the “oldies” bravely continued this strenuous hike. :) They were rewarded with a brief view of the glacier through the fog, and then also returned.
After an easy hike back the next day, Sven left to La Paz to have a quiet day of working on his laptop, and Pam, Mo and Xandi stayed one more day in Sorata. After reuniting in La Paz, we sorted out our schedule for the next couple of weeks, starting with a Jungle Tour in the Amazon.
