Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Copacabana
Saturday
Left Puno in the afternoon. Bus trip to the border was pretty uneventful.As for the border crossing - so laid back it wasn´t funny. So we´re now in Bolivia and all it´s scams. Hard to leave Peru behind as it has been good to us.Half hour bus ride to Copacabana which is in party mode at the moment. So we were advised to watch valuables and have a meal in the hotel that evening. Some of the crew went down town and didn´t find it too frightening.
I went up to the hill overlooking the town - nice vista and alot of families around. A couple of louts started to throw bottles off the top so I legged it back down to the hostel just before dark. I tend to stick out like a sore thumb round here. Haven´t seen any albino Indians yet....
Nice meal in the hotel and good to catch up with Alistair from Gravity chewing the fat about the mtb round here. Plans were laid for the morning trip to Isle de Sol. Jenny and Anton went down to get some food for the next day and had an interesting experience. A domestic took place right in front of them , people had obviously been partying over Easter. They also asked for some cheese - sliced. The chap behind the counter promptly went to slice it using the meat slicer - nice !!!
Sunday
Up early to run out the peninsula. Wanted to do this because it reminded me of Dunedin. Wx was overcast and run went well. Up at 3800m altitude and still managed 17km in just under 2hrs, including walking up the hills. Altitude doesn´t seem to be an issue for me. I guess I should wait for the mountain. Most of the locals were friendly but thought I was crazy..Got To Yayapacha (sp) and it bucketed down. Now I got taught a lesson. I think that Bolivian wx is four seasons in one minute !!! I had taken enough kit to keep warm while running but hadn´t taken enough to hang around in. Managed to hire a boat to take me to the north of the Isle de sol - all with my limited english. They had to take out 5 buckets of water from the boat before we got going !!! Still raining when we got to the south end of the island so I bailed nd got dropped off here. waited half an hour for the others and then went for a tour of the south part of the island with Mario. He was a very good guide showing us Andean oregano and the local ruins. It was very touristy here - one cool feature of the buildings being trapezoidal windows. Just like the Incas did. Bucketed down the whole time and my watch temp got down to 10 degrees. Today I´m back at 25 degrees. Man was I cold. Then we caught the boat back to Copacabana. Had lunch and chilled out in the afternoon. Another party hd walked from the north end of the island down to the south to See the stone where Manco capac and Mama Ocho had been created. They were the godparents of the inca family. Once the wx cleared up they enjoyed themselves. In the afternoon we saw the blessing of the cars. They get sprayed with beer, blessed by the priest and then fireworks are lit. Some of these in people´s hands. I like it how people spray the beer, drink the rest of the bottle and then drive off. Drink driving is a problem round here as people just bribe their way out when they are caught. The blessing of the cars is a big thing here - it´s to keep the car safe when they are driving. Cheaper than a new set of tires I say !!! Others hecked out the Cathedral and the Market. A bit more relaxed down here !!! Then out for an awesome meal - I think everyone ate a bit much. People were in good spirits again though. Most are struggling sleeping at altitude again. Some are struggling with gut issues but the mood is upbeat as we contemplate the climb and being below 2800 at Sorata.
Monday
Up early and off for a run. Had an interesting standoff with a dog until a local chased it away. Also had fun racing a kid on a clapped out bike. The others sleep in . Anothe good breakfast and great to see Ross ready to attack the world with his smelly shoes. The crew splits up into ones riding down to Sorata and less altitude. The others are anticipating the climb up Huyani Potosi.The bus ride through to Le Paz was cool, with the views of snow covered mountains just awesome. Included going accross Lake Titicaca. We were squashed into one boat like sardines while the bus went across on a barge. Le Paz is big and busy. Managed to find presents for my work collegues at the witches market - beware !!! What with llama foetuses, frogs, various concoctions available there is definately alot to choose from. The others checked out town, walking right past Police with sub machine guns and shotguns !!!
Left Puno in the afternoon. Bus trip to the border was pretty uneventful.As for the border crossing - so laid back it wasn´t funny. So we´re now in Bolivia and all it´s scams. Hard to leave Peru behind as it has been good to us.Half hour bus ride to Copacabana which is in party mode at the moment. So we were advised to watch valuables and have a meal in the hotel that evening. Some of the crew went down town and didn´t find it too frightening.
I went up to the hill overlooking the town - nice vista and alot of families around. A couple of louts started to throw bottles off the top so I legged it back down to the hostel just before dark. I tend to stick out like a sore thumb round here. Haven´t seen any albino Indians yet....Nice meal in the hotel and good to catch up with Alistair from Gravity chewing the fat about the mtb round here. Plans were laid for the morning trip to Isle de Sol. Jenny and Anton went down to get some food for the next day and had an interesting experience. A domestic took place right in front of them , people had obviously been partying over Easter. They also asked for some cheese - sliced. The chap behind the counter promptly went to slice it using the meat slicer - nice !!!
Sunday
Up early to run out the peninsula. Wanted to do this because it reminded me of Dunedin. Wx was overcast and run went well. Up at 3800m altitude and still managed 17km in just under 2hrs, including walking up the hills. Altitude doesn´t seem to be an issue for me. I guess I should wait for the mountain. Most of the locals were friendly but thought I was crazy..Got To Yayapacha (sp) and it bucketed down. Now I got taught a lesson. I think that Bolivian wx is four seasons in one minute !!! I had taken enough kit to keep warm while running but hadn´t taken enough to hang around in. Managed to hire a boat to take me to the north of the Isle de sol - all with my limited english. They had to take out 5 buckets of water from the boat before we got going !!! Still raining when we got to the south end of the island so I bailed nd got dropped off here. waited half an hour for the others and then went for a tour of the south part of the island with Mario. He was a very good guide showing us Andean oregano and the local ruins. It was very touristy here - one cool feature of the buildings being trapezoidal windows. Just like the Incas did. Bucketed down the whole time and my watch temp got down to 10 degrees. Today I´m back at 25 degrees. Man was I cold. Then we caught the boat back to Copacabana. Had lunch and chilled out in the afternoon. Another party hd walked from the north end of the island down to the south to See the stone where Manco capac and Mama Ocho had been created. They were the godparents of the inca family. Once the wx cleared up they enjoyed themselves. In the afternoon we saw the blessing of the cars. They get sprayed with beer, blessed by the priest and then fireworks are lit. Some of these in people´s hands. I like it how people spray the beer, drink the rest of the bottle and then drive off. Drink driving is a problem round here as people just bribe their way out when they are caught. The blessing of the cars is a big thing here - it´s to keep the car safe when they are driving. Cheaper than a new set of tires I say !!! Others hecked out the Cathedral and the Market. A bit more relaxed down here !!! Then out for an awesome meal - I think everyone ate a bit much. People were in good spirits again though. Most are struggling sleeping at altitude again. Some are struggling with gut issues but the mood is upbeat as we contemplate the climb and being below 2800 at Sorata.Monday
Up early and off for a run. Had an interesting standoff with a dog until a local chased it away. Also had fun racing a kid on a clapped out bike. The others sleep in . Anothe good breakfast and great to see Ross ready to attack the world with his smelly shoes. The crew splits up into ones riding down to Sorata and less altitude. The others are anticipating the climb up Huyani Potosi.The bus ride through to Le Paz was cool, with the views of snow covered mountains just awesome. Included going accross Lake Titicaca. We were squashed into one boat like sardines while the bus went across on a barge. Le Paz is big and busy. Managed to find presents for my work collegues at the witches market - beware !!! What with llama foetuses, frogs, various concoctions available there is definately alot to choose from. The others checked out town, walking right past Police with sub machine guns and shotguns !!!
# posted by Greg @ 2:33 AM 
