To Bolivia

Bolivian Border

We hopped an early morning bus to Copacabana, Bolivia; we selected a tourist bus to decrease the border complexity.  Everyone on the bus was allowed free entry to Bolivia except us.  Being American we had the honor of paying $US 270 (along with residents of China, North Korea, and India... thanks American foreign policy).  The bus stopped on the Peru side and everyone filed off the bus.  A hectic mix of local market, mariachi band, and frantic foreigners, the border was a sight to see.  Stop 1: We queued up in a long line for a stamp.  Stop 2 (next door): We queued up in another line to get a second stamp.  Stop 3 (across the street): We queued up in another line to exchange Peruvian Soles for Bolivian Bolivanos (we needed 14 cents in Bolivian money to cross the border).  Stop 4: We queued up at Bolivian Immigration to obtain a visa.  Dashing back onto our bus in Bolivia, we took a short ride to Copacabana, a strange hippy backwater town, where we grabbed a boat to Isla del Sol, an island in Lake Titicaca.  In Peru and Bolivia they love charging random taxes and fees.  Even though we had already paid our ticket to the island, in order to get off the boat, we had to pay again!  The island has 2,000 residents, zero cars, no proper water/sewer, and a million donkeys.  With our backpacks on, we proceeded to climb “240 Incan steps” up a cliff to where the town resided.  Local boys haggled us the entire climb (partially so they could carry our bags for a fee, partially because they were just really annoying); our English friend was so annoyed she nearly knocked one out.  Arriving atop the cliff at a hotel with sweeping views of the lake ($13/night) we scarfed down trout dinner at an outdoor restaurant in a donkey pasture.