Copacabana. Bolivia 8-9.1.16

• How to get there: From La Paz we took a bus for 40 Bs each. It was more expensive due to towns that were under riots. A normal ticket any other day is 25 Bs and it takes 3hs instead of 4.
• Arriving to Copacabana: The town is ready for tourists, so arriving there you will see plenty of places to stay at and many things to do. We stayed at "Brisas del Titicaca" a hostel on the main avenue almost at the bottom, close to the lake. We paid 60 Bs each for the accommodation with shared bathroom.

The colours of Copacabana are attractive to almost anyone arriving. The few streets that make the centre are always busy and full of life, with stalls on each side selling all kinds of souvenirs.

We arrived and went for a walk around the town, stopping at an office to buy tickets to go to Cusco. When we had that sorted for the following day we were ready to have over 24hs of fun in an area that everyone seemed to recommend.

In Copacabana everything is built for your enjoyment and so, we decided to join. We went to several shops, buying small souvenirs and went for Bolivian food, me hoping for a nice warm soup that would do my stomach a favour after so much travelling around some of the highest grounds on Earth and Oliver looking for alpaca meat, exclusive to this area of the world.

If you like the "beach" and the party and you're looking to have a bit of fun in a relaxed environment. For us a day was enough to enjoy it to the fullest without getting the urge of moving somewhere new.

La Paz. Bolivia 7.1.16 - 8.1.16

• How to get there: Check our last blog on travelling between Arica and La Paz (http://pascoegoestravelling.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/journey-from-arica-to-la-paz-070116.html)
• Arriving to La Paz: When we arrived there were riots going on at the entrance, otherwise it's just a beautiful view followed by a centre full of history, religion and culture.
• If you eat street food, be very careful of where you go to, ask locals, they will tell you which places are safe for street food. Otherwise, there are many cheap restaurants that sell Bolivian food in the central area.

La Paz is in a simple word, beautiful. We didn't have long to enjoy the city as we would've liked to and in our minds we have decided we will be back for more. We arrived in the evening between tired and dizzy from the altitude, and decided to get a hotel in the centre to have the good night sleep our bodies had been deserving for standing so strong.

The next morning, we were up from 6 am to get a view from the top of the city as we had seen it the previous day but with the morning mist. The views were absolutely stunning, one of the best views we had ever seen, the mist, the red roofs, the cemetery. The taxi driver that took us there pretty much gave us a full 1 hour tour before we had to go back to the hotel for breakfast. He told us about the religion: the locals even though mainly catholic, believe in their ancestral beliefs still, holding a strong connection to the land, water and fire. He also told us that some of them praise the Devil as a connection between the so-called "Uncle" and the Goddess of Earth. The curve of the devil is where people put their candles and offerings to the Uncle, some are coloured, some are black. The black candles are to ask for revenge and dark things I didn't want to think about: in these type of offerings they use dry animal foetus, although sometimes the police has found human bodies used in the offerings. It all sounds pretty dark right?

La Paz however is not that dark: people are in general friendly and everyone is willing to help you with directions even when they don't know themselves.

We had breakfast and headed to "the cemetery" or a street nearby where you could buy tickets to go to Copacabana. We queued for over half an hour with many other tourists going in that direction.

Journey from Arica to La Paz. 07.01.16

The bus terminal in Arica is simply crazy, a roofless crowded area with walls covered in signs, the boleteria at the entry is where you pay the fee to use the station, and you have to! As you enter, people shout at you names of places they travel to along with the time of departure.

We searched for a bus to take us to Tacna originally, but as we changed aisles, all the stands that sold tickets to Bolivia stood before our eyes, each messier than the last. We walked past the sellers that shouted "La Paz" while looking for a cheaper option and just at the end of the aisle, a humble company caught our eye, ran by a woman with a baby and what looked like her husband. She quickly sold us tickets for the following morning for 10.000 CLP each and told us to be there 10 minutes before departing.

Next morning we woke up still a little nervous about climbing over 4000 metres and headed to the station. We arrived at 8:30 am, half an hour before leaving and gave her our passports for the lady to register us. As minutes went past, a couple of travellers from Belgium told us we had to pay the fee at the entrance of the terminal, and came back to find out that we still hadn't been registered at 8:55, panicking a bit about our passports, we hurried them up as we put our luggage into the bus. We got our passports just in time before leaving.

As we were pulling out of the station, Anna, the girl from Belgium told us she hadn't yet got her passport back, so we asked the driver to stop and find the woman to give their passports back! Just in time!

We finally left, the journey was fine, steady going up. However, after reaching lake Chungara, altitude started being an issue, head spinning, stomach feeling feeble and heart beating faster. The border crossing was soon upon us, and even though Oli was okay at this point, taking pictures of the view, I wasn't really keen on it in my state.

We crossed into Bolivia feeling a little hungry and decided to eat once heading to La Paz. First bite and altitude hit me abruptly, I felt bad, then worse and then... then it was gone, I ate, laughed and talked until I fell asleep.

I woke up to the voice of one of the workers, hoping he was telling us we had arrived to La Paz. Him and the guy sat in front were arguing and after a few seconds of waking up, I finally started to understand what was happening: We were being dropped off at El Alto, due to what apparently were riots at the entrance of La Paz. It took me even longer to realise he was saying "they are breaking the glasses" (meaning the windows). He gave us 3 Bolivians each and told us to take a minibus into the capital, and so we got off the bus.

Our time in Bolivia had a pretty interesting start. We walked about 6 blocks and crossed a couple of roads before getting on a minibus that charged 1.50 bolivians the seat. Our luggage occupied three seats and we occupied five, we were a bit short, but we paid the extras from some cash the other guys seemed to carry.

We entered La Paz, our eyes proved the rioting that had been going on at the border crossing, broken glass, police everywhere. But as we entered, the beautiful view of La Paz from the top arose.