More SA Tribulations

With the awe-inspiring Inca Trail behind us we headed for the Bolivia with Leonie (German/Italian girl) and a small town named Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Unfortunately we had both now been struck by irregular bowel movements (along with a lot of other travellers we are finding). Steve: “Rear end problems have produced some funny moments however. To get across the Bolivian border we had to vacate our toilet equipped bus for a rickty minibus. After loading his bag onto said minibus Stu decided it may be prudent to utilize the loo one last time. Unfortunately with myself and Leonie on the minibus with Stus luggage and with Stus behind still hanging over the Bano in the first bus, the driver gunned it for La Paz. By all accounts Stu had an embarrassing moment flinging the door open to shout expletives at the driver whilst trying to control rectal outbursts. I had no idea what to do, thankfully Stu remembered the word for stop however...” Thankfully only my pride was damaged and we made it to the Lake, which was incredible.

At 3810m a.s.l. it is the world highest navigable lake is certainly an impressive sight. Once we had dropped our bags at a hostel, with a night bag packed we headed for a 17km coastal walk from Copa to Yamupata where we planned to catch a boat to the Isle del Sol (Island of the Sun). On route we saw some redonkulous scenery, floating islands and even partied and drank at a Bolivian street party for some Virgin, with the Bolivian woman desperate to dance with us, great craic! We made it, albeit very tired, to the boat and reached the Island for the night with 3 more ‘real life’ Germans for company. That night the Island of the ‘Sun’ experienced the biggest storm either of us have ever witness which kept us up but was impressive to say the least.
The next day we trekked from North to South on the Island with Seb the Bald German, with some ruin visiting and toilet frequenting en route (still not functioning well!) and caught the last ferry back to Copa for one more night before heading to La Paz the following day (world’s highest capital city) with Seb and an International Observer from Canada for the up-and-coming Bolivian elections, Go Evo!!!!

Once arrived at La Paz we met up with the 3 amigos (Welsh Dave, Josh and Guy, friends from Uni) and we proceeded drink the bar dry and fail miserably at the pub quiz. Steve still suffering with stomach issues at this point so didn’t think this was a good idea. Steve: “Missing beer!!” Also we found that our plans coincide up until Christmas in Rio so after a day of market frequenting today we head off north tomorrow to Rurrenabaque and a Pampas Tour to the Bolivian Amazon to swim with dolphins, hunt for anacondas, fish for piranhas, canoe down rivers and generally see tons of wildlife. Will let you know if we survive........

P.s. Apologies for lack of photos, good internet is hard to come by! As soon as we have it, you will see all the wonders we have encountered.