Copacabana

We made it to Bolivia!

It was an early bus from Puno at 6:45. We changed all of our remaining Soles for Bolivian bobs last night leaving just enough for a taxi. It wasn't until we got to the bus station that we remembered that you have to pay extra embarkment fees to board the bus. We tried to use US dollars, but the woman wasn't having it. Luckily we ran into some kind European guys who swapped us a dollar for 4 Soles. Not the kind of stress I need before I've even had a cup of coffee!

The bus journey was pleasant and short in comparison to all of our other buses in South America so far. When we got to the border, my stress levels were pretty high. I'd done everything I could to make sure I was sorted for the border crossing by getting my visa earlier, but I was still nervous. The bus dropped us off at the Peru side of the border. We waited in line to get our exit stamps, and then we walked across the border to the Bolivian side to get the entry stamps. There were no issues and I got my entry stamps into Bolivia just fine. Then, it was back on the bus to finish the short 10-15 minutes into Copacabana.

When we got to Copacabana, we walked to the hostel and settled in. We then went out to get a Bolivian SIM card and we visited the Cathedral next door. It was quite big on the outside, but seemed smaller on the inside. The outside was white with green and yellow tile domed roofs. There was a large courtyard with designs in pebbles and concrete. Inside the church was dark wood with blue and clay orange painted ceiling. The main altar area was very intricate with lots of carvings that had been gilded with gold leaf. One of the statues behind the altar was made by Francisco Yupanqui, a grandson of an Incan ruler.

After the Cathedral we walked around town and bought our ferry tickets to get to Isla del Sol tomorrow. We made a quick pit stop at our room before heading up Cerro Calvario for sunset. It wasn't a long climb, but it was pretty steep with a fair chunk of stairs. It was also so sad that such a beautiful place was covered in trash and bottles. We enjoyed the sunset though and had some great colors in the sky even half an hour after the sun has gone down. We had some nice soup and pizza for dinner at Gourmet Ali (all the places I wanted to eat were closed today. Devastating.)

When we got back to the hostel, we had to pack the smaller bags in preparation for walking the length of Isla del Sol and our overnight there.Leia mais