The Bolivian trail
Hi everybody,
Yes, we´re still alive. I would even dare to say more than ever! We left the nice little town of Uyuni on the 14th, spent an OK night on the bus and arrived safely in La Paz at 8:00 a.m. When you arrive in La Paz, you see these high mountains all around and this huge city kinda lost in the middle and spreading on the hillside. The view is breathtaking, literally. The altitude leaves you out of breath after a few steps and you can feel that you are very high. Furthermore, the streets of La Paz are more vertical than horizontal, so there are more steps than flat pavement in the highest capital city in the world. Oh, yeah, talking about the highest capital city in the world, there´s a debate among backpackers, some saying it´s bullshit as Lhasa (Tibet) is higher, some saying La Paz is the highest one. According to what I´ve found in Google, Lhasa is 3658 meters (12000 feet) high and La Paz 3700 meters (12500 feet) high. Therefore, I can now claim that I´ve walked the streets of the highest capital city in the world and that makes me happy and proud!
Where was I? Yes,we found a nice hostel recommended by the Swiss guy we met in Uyuni. It is located in the city center, very close to the witch market and black market. Did you hear witch market? I think you did. It doesn´t look quite like what you´re thinking right now, though. It´s just a street in which old Bolivian women ( witches for sure) sell statues of Inca gods and talismans for protection. You would also find potions for infertility or impotency among aphrodisiacs. The weirdest things I´ve seen on this market are those hairy lama foetuses that the Bolivians would offer to "Pachamama", Mother Earth. Right after this nice walk, we had our breakfast in a small café...Then, we headed towards the park to enjoy the amazing point of view over the city. We visited the old theater, the cathedral and walked the main streets of La Paz. It didn´t take us too long to see pretty much everything in the city. No need to stay there for days.
At some point, we started looking for the black market which is said to be great and huge. We found on the map that it was relatively close to our hostel so we were on our way back when we entered...a market! It really seems to me that La Paz is only a giant market in the mountains. Everywhere, people selling burnt CDs and DVDs (just like the Sunday market in Drogheda! Only that it´s waaaayy cheaper), and all kind of food. We spent the whole afternoon in the market and eventually reached the black market. It´s basically the same as the rest of the market, just a bit more organized. We were told that in the black market "when you´re looking for something, you won´t find it for a while but when you find one, you will find hundreds".
We took a bus the following day (yesterday) to Copacabana. No, we didn´t go back to Brazil, there´s a 
Copacabana in Bolivia too! It´s actually on the Lake Titicaca. It´s a very pleasant town, quite small but very touristy. It was nice to take a break, get away from the city and relax a bit on a beach. The cathedral in Copacabana is richlly decorated and massive. One aisle is a long, dark corridor onlylit by candels. All you can see is tables and candels with people praying in silence. You can feel the power of this room. There´s also a small market and some very nice restaurants where you can eat the famous Titicaca trout in a 3 course menu, for nothing (1.50 Euro). The main attraction is the "Isla del Sol" Island of the sun, where the sun was born, accroding to the Incas.
That´s where we were today. We took a boat at 8:00 a.m and reached the north of Isla del Sol at 11:00 a.m. We visited a museum showing different items found at the bottom of Lake, pottery and other stuff, and then we headed towards the ruins. After a 45 mins walk with a guide, we discovered the temple of the sun, a place where Incas used to sacrifice animals on the 21st of June, for the solstice, pouring blood for Pachamama. The guide mentioned that they still do it nowadays. Then, it´s a 3 hour walk to the southern part of the Island. The landscape and the trek are both breathtaking, it´s worthwhile. And here we are again, telling you about our trip, having eaten another trout and already feeling that the sandman is on his way. Tomorrow, we´re taking a bus at 8:00 to Puno in Peru. See you there!