Copacabana, BOLIVIA!!!

Hello everyone,

We spent a few more days waiting in Lima for Haz´s passport. Tried to be cultural - boarded a bus for the national art gallery but found out that it was closed... and opening next year. Ran out of money to enjoy the place properly, so decided that Copacabana was calling...

Luckily on Thursday Haz´s passport was finally ready (apparently the British embassy only work half weeks...) so we boarded a bus for Puno, on the border with Bolivia and Lake Titicaca. Unfortunately our bus broke down after the first 15 hours, and in our haste to change buses with another that had pulled up (there were limited seats), I left my sleeping bag on the broken bus. Oops. Anyway, another 5 hours later we made it to Puno. Found out that the original bus was probably going back to Lima rather than going to Puno, and if it did arrive it might take days... so headed to Copacabana. Really pleased to be able to make it in only 2 days of travelling, as Puno didn´t look as nice.

So we made it! Haz managed a little bit of bribery to get herself out of Peru, (she had no entry stamp or immigration card as the passport was new), and we successfully entered Bolivia, (hiding our dollars in our bras as they confiscate them for being ´fake´when they obviously aren´t!)

Copacabana is on the edge of Lake Titicaca. If we look through the construction, we can see the lake from our room. We decided to splash out and pay for an en suite room - well it was only 2.50 quid each night! Absolutely lovely, can watch the sunrise... We have spent today mooching around. Went to the local cathedral which was really pretty - quite plain until you saw a wall of gold at the end behind the alter with many many icons. Also went into the Chapel of the Candles - so pretty. Was like a vault painted black, with rows and rows of candles...

Enjoying lovely food here too - a 3 course meal with gorgeous food only costs just under 3 dollars. Think might put on a bit of weight...! Much more economical to go for the set meals... which is unfortunate as I have 3 courses for lunch and supper... delicious! Lots of wonderful quirky cafes here too - having to visit them all and taste the hot chocolates...

Tomorrow we are taking a boat to the Island of the Sun, which is where the Inca mythology of worshipping the sun originated. 8.30am until 6pm - only 3.5 dollars - our laundry is costing 6.5 dollars! To be fair it is pretty skanky...

Phone calls are extortionate here, so no telephoning until maybe La Paz.

Monday am - travel 3 hour to La Paz. In the evening we will take the 16 hour overnight bus to Rurrenbaque in the Amazon, for a 3 day pampas tour (looking at the animals...) We should be back in La Paz by the 22nd or 23rd December, and then are spending lots of time there until the 3rd January, staying in the Loki hostel there. So from Monday 15th Dec until about 22nd December we may be out of contact for a while. So please don´t panic if you don´t hear from us! If anything happens in the UK, tell Interpol to look near Rurrenbaque or in the jungle...

Hope that everything´s going well in the UK - I´ve managed to pretty much forget it´s Christmas soon here! Seen weird Santa things though... think they are Santa willy warmers. Don´t think the others agree...

Lots of love from us all,
Al xxxxxxxx
ps in case you hadn´t realised, I LOVE BOLIVIA!!!