Copacabana, Bolivia

Last stop Bolivia.

Let me start by saying I'm loving Bolivia. It's been an absolute blast: deserts, salt flats, mines, high altitude, downhill biking, mountaineering, lovely people (both locals and other tourists), reasonable food (despite what people say) and on top of all that - it's cheap. Throw it on top of the podium with Colombia as my favourite South American country (and with Guatemala for my favourite overall).

We needed Copacabana. It's quiet and small and relaxing; the last few weeks have been a whirlwind and it's nice just to relax for a minute. I know what you're thinking: 'spoilt holiday maker needs a holiday from his holiday' - well so be it.

The family and their dog at Hostel Florencia were great hosts and we had a spacious room with snippets of an excellent view. Little did we know, good views would be the theme of this stop.

We bussed from La Paz to Copacabana - the six hours for a lousy 20 Bs ($4) which included one narrow lake crossing by dodgy barge. What else would you expect? It was a really scenic bus, almost as good as the one from Mendoza and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery by sleeping through it, at least for the moments I wasn't thrown off my seat by some excessively violent driving. We were also quietly hoping for a break from the altitude but it was not to be. Copacabana lies at the edge Lake Titicaca at about 3800m asl. You'd think we'd have acclimatized by now...and no, I'm not willing to admit it's my fitness letting me down.

One thing that has amazed me in Bolivia is the quality and quantity of their football pitches. It's more of a priority than running water or flush toilets and that's not an exaggeration. At our first stop at the border in the middle of the desert there was a full sized field (and only about four buildings). There's been a pitch in every village we've passed through (including base camp at Huayna Potosi) all the way to Copacabana which hosts two full sized artificial turfs with some stadium seating as well two more smaller pitches in immaculate condition. Impressive for a town not much bigger than the suburb of Epsom. It's a wonder Bolivia isn't better at football.

Copa has two great lookout points either side of the city and miss energy legs insisted it was a good idea to climb both in the three hour slot we had between arriving on the bus and dark. The climbing hurt, if not by real pain but by memories of the monstrous effort from just the day before. The views were superb and we were up the second hill in time for yet another fantastic sunset, this time accompanied by Ana from Huayna as her boyfriend was suffering from a classic case of Bolivian food poisoning (a compulsory souvenir).

That night we enjoyed another $4, three course dinner and were later accompanied by Cat's friend Tamsin and her boyfriend Lawrence for Pisco sours. We both parted ways with good travel tips (we are retracing each other's paths) and a few good laughs at the expense of Lawrence and his fear of heights.

Isla del Sol is the main attraction in Lake Titicaca and despite us being sick of hiking, we made the most of a full day out there. The boat ride was slow and squished but at least we found humour in our skippers approach (half asleep and hiding from the sun under an umbrella).

Isla del Sol is much too steep for my liking, particularly at that altitude. Our hiking was more like walking and resting with plenty of stops for relaxing, eating and drinking - perhaps not dissimilar to one of Grant's weekend rides. The views were impressive as we discovered when we did eventually reach the summit. Animals were abound all over the island - pigs, sheep, llamas, dogs, donkeys and cats all cause for pause. By far the most amusing were the donkeys who could be heard from any location and would wind each other up with their comical eeh-orring. The island lived up to it's name and delivered wonderfully hot sunshine which we treasured all the way back to our hostel for an arvo nap and a horrible late dinner (thanks to some truely awful service).

Just as we were about to celebrate escaping Bolivia's compulsory food poisoning, Cat ran one in. On our last night. So close. She's couped up on a seat in a bus beside me having a hell of a time, following a hell of a night and a not much more enjoyable border crossing. I don't think she'll be touching trout for a while. I'd guess I've saved mine for Peru, maybe a dodgy chicken leg or some cold rice can even the scores...I hope not. At the end of the day (or maybe tomorrow), Bolivia's parting gift will be but a scratch on the surface of what's been an epic few weeks. Hasta luego!Read more