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| Lake Titicaca |
It did not take us long on the road in Bolivia to discover
that paved roads in Bolivia aren’t as good as in Peru, dodging plenty of pot
holes in our first few hundred metres. But it was only an hours ride from the
Bolivian border to the very touristy town of Copacabana. For a small town the
place seemed to have a huge number of tourists, mainly backpackers by the look
of it. We didn’t hang around in the town for too long keen to try and get out
to Isla del Sol that afternoon. The regular boat didn’t run until the following
morning but thankfully a group of enterprising Argentenians managed to get
enough of us together who wanted to head out that afternoon to make it worth
the boat operator’s effort. Off we went. Not having anywhere to leave the bikes
in Copacabana we decided it would be best to bring them with us despite the
inconvenience of having to lug them and the many pannier on and off the boat.
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| A few Colombian and Argentinian pals I met on the boat |
Once disembarked at the village of Challapampa on the north of the island it
didn’t take us long to find our way through a few streets and to a pretty beach
where there were already about 12 other tents set up. It looked like there
wouldn’t be much problem camping here… little did we know. Just after dark as
we were setting up our tents along arrived four boys probably ranging in age
from 10 to 14. They had spotted our bikes and they wanted a go on them… and
they weren’t going to stop plaguing us until they got them. Poor Simon and
Olivia were hit first giving me enough time to put up my tent and put
everything bar the bike inside. After literally half an hour of pestering Simon
and Olivia over they marched for my turn. I made the mistake of speaking
Spanish to them so they knew I understood them. They continued to badger me for
a go on my bike. They didn’t have a very pleasant tone and I told them there
was no way they were getting my bike! It had the effect of dampening our
initial excitement at seeing all the other tents on the beach, of course we
were the only ones with bikes! Whenever I camp I am always very careful to
secure my bike with my two heavy locks and a few bungee cords but for the first
time on the entire trip I decided to try and take my bike inside my tent!
Although I have a relatively spacious two man tent it was quite the squeeze but
I managed it. I also locked my tent from the inside.
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| Plenty of fellow campers on the beach |
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| Well it's certainly cosy |
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| Have those 12 year old bullies cleared off yet?! |
Simon and Olivia didn’t
have the luxury of bringing their bikes inside so by 7 o’clock the next morning
they were woken up to the sound of kids ringing the bells on their bikes which
they had secured to a nearby lamppost, being plagued by more kids…. “POR
FAAAAVOOOOR”
Olivia gave the people what they wanted, or in this case
gave the kids what they wanted and let them cycle her bike around the local
basketball court, carefully supervised! She also decided to check out
alternative accommodation options and came up trumps with a very cheap room
overlooking the beach about 30 metres up the hill. I didn’t take any
convincing! It was like being in a different place, no more harassing kids, the
sun came out and we even had a picnic table!
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| Don't let go of my bike Simon! ... POR FAVOR! |
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| The lady who owned the room where we were staying was a talented knitter |
We got up relatively early the next morning with what we
thought was plenty of time to catch the 8.30 am ferry but we missed it by an
hour. We had forgotten to put our watches forward when crossing the border into
Bolivia two days previous!
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| This little girl seemed fascinated with all the tourists |
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| Checking out the local chocolate, not great |
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| One for the road |
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| Church in Cococabana |
Once back on the main land we passed some stunning scenery
by the side of Lake Titicaca as we wound our way up out of Copacabana and into
the pampas. We got a stunning camp spot that night up in the hills overlooking
the lake. It was time to return the favor and I invited Simon and Olivia over (to my tent)
for dinner. A kind of quinoa, vegetable soup to start by the guys and I
followed up with pasta, carrot, tomato and tuna. We certainly didn’t go hungry
that night.
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| Picnic time |
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| We camped in this families front garden |
Within two days we had reached the outskirts of La Paz. We
decided to bunch up and keep an eye out for each other as we negotiated our way
closer to the centre in what seemed to be ever maddening traffic. We missed the
autopista which would have had a decent shoulder on it so we took a proper zig
zig down from El Alto which is a city in itself, through the various neighborhoods
built up along the mountain sides and into the city centre which is located
lower down in the middle of the valley. I
think we were all relieved to make it to the Casa de Ciclista in one piece.
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