Copacabana, day two

So I was a bit too tired to write much after this day at the time as it was such a long one, so here is the recap of the day.

It was a nice relaxing morning as we weren't rushed at all and we were able to enjoy beautiful hot showers, courtesy of solar power, and chill outside with the cute little dog that lived at the lodge.
Rich managed to meet another woman staying there who he said was miserable as sin, insisting on telling him how she had visited 40 countries, was a vegan and was disappointed with all of the hostels she had been staying in, including this one, which we three thought was amazing. Apparently, some people are just miserable.

We had a nice breakfast later in the morning and after an annoying but intentional power cut, which apparently happens often and without warning in Copacabana, we were given a lift along the beach into town.

Once in town, we dropped our bags and had a wander up the tiny high street to look for some souvenirs. We are really starting to appreciate just how much the altitude affects your ability to do anything, especially when you have to do things like walk up hills and steps. There were only about 20 steps to the room we had earlier and all of us were puffing by the time we got to the top. Even brushing your teeth can feel a bit exhausting! So far though at least we have not suffered any sickness or headaches, which is good.

I bought some lama socks and Rob bought a hat, in preparation for the freezing salt flats that we will be visiting soon. We also bought a couple of trinkets whilst Richard entertained himself with the ridiculous number of finger puppets these little shops had. They were all cartoon characters and superheroes and they were actually really very detailed. Not sure they were happy with him trying them all on and then not buying any!

We had lunch next, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich for me and Rob, which was once again disappointing - very dry and stale. Rich had a chicken sandwich that came with salad, something we had been told to avoid (we don't want to get sick from the water they wash it in) but it did at least look way more appetising. We left pretty quick and headed to where we would be catching our boat to the Isla del Sol.

We sat upstairs on the boat so we could get a good view and were told it was an hour and a half journey to the island. This seemed quite a long time as the Island didn't look far away but we soon realised, it was just a really slow boat. It was pretty windy and cold so I was glad to be one of the few people to have brought warmer layers.

We ended up chatting to a couple opposite us, Sarah and Sam (Samwell) who have been traveling since around February. We were talking about where we had been and how we had decided to travel. They had also quit their jobs and were sad to be going home fairly soon. They had some good advice for us for New Zealand and we had fun listening to Sams stories of misfortune in the workplace and the stupidity of interviewees that he had experienced before quitting. He was definitely glad to have left!

Once we got there, we had a wander on the island up to 3800m, which I managed to do with only one stop for breath which I was pretty proud of. Rich and Rob got tourist trapped by a lama and ended up paying for the privilege of a photo. We watched as the woman then wandered off leaving the lama behind...the cheek haha!

The view from the top was really lovely and we stopped for a few photos before continuing down to the other harbour, which now housed the boat. The path down was pretty steep and made up of those slippery shiny cobbles, which almost had me flying down them all. It was a really pretty town at the bottom, everyone was gathered here socialising. We didn't have time to stop though which was a shame. Considering we only had an hour on the island, compared to the three hours on the boat, it was a bit underwhelming to some extent. The views were great and the history of the island as the birthplace of the Inca's was interesting, but the only thing there to signify this was the small 'Temple of the Sun', which didn't take long to look around. It was good to get some exercise in though and we had another nice chat on the way back with Sarah and Sam.

Hilariously, they were telling us how they had met a woman in Aguas Calientes who actually said she was disappointed with Machu Picchu, because, quote "it looked just like the pictures". WHAT!!??? They went on to say how she was just miserable and told everyone how she was a vegan with superiority. A light bulb clicked and we asked if she had happened to have visited 40 countries too. She had, haha! We worked out it was the same lady Rich had spoken to that morning...she is certainly leaving sour impressions wherever she goes.

After getting back to the shore we had a drink on the terrace overlooking the beach and then headed down to catch our bus to La Paz.Read more