Drunks are the same everywhere

Hello again - to all of those who are following our trip and the experiences, and to those joining now. We are in Bolivia at the moment, but I wont close the Peru part YET. Some things remain to be said and pictures uploaded.

However, 2 days in Bolivia and the first impressions are: "I like it so far". And, after 3 weeks or so of too much "do not trust anybody" and constant harassment by tour agents and souvenier sellers, I feel relaxed!!!!!

We started off by a slow move from Cusco. The last "lie" on Peruvian side had to be expected - the bus compnay reps selling us tickets showed us pictures of the bus that were NOT AT ALL representative. That it the bus was one of the worst in which we have travelled so far. If you travel from Cusco to Puno, do not take San Luis.... They also said it left "on time" and that of course was not true, and the indicated 6 hours of the trip as well took longer, so by the time we got to Puno to take a minivan to the border city with Bolivia we were risking running late. The last bus neither went on time, or managed to ride the distance in the 3 hours they said, so we arrived to our last Peru town shortly before closure of the Bolivian border.

One thing that was our fault -we did not check that there is 1 hour time difference between Bolivia and Peru, but forutnately with other 10 or so foreigners at the Peru checkpoint 2-3 minutes before Bolivian side closed, I think they most probably communicated that we are about to cross over so that the others wait for us. Well, to finish the Peru travel on a positive note, I choose to believe it :)

Arriving to Bolivia was a pleasant surprise. Road was well paved! The minivan we took to Copacabana at the Titicaca lake was new, the driver extremely responsible, opening the doors for passengers to get it and out, and we found a nice hostel with a view to Titicaca lake.

A less positive surprise awaited us however - there we NO ATMs to cash some money in Copacabana. So, if you go there - take USD or EURO in CAHS. Peru Soles, Argentinian and Chilean money is also accepted in exchange offices. With our 40 USD cash (20 per person) we had to cut our planned 2 nights stay in Copacabana to 1, and leave to La Paz the following day. It was a relaxing town and I would have liked to stay there one more night, but should have taken the money out in Peru...

Copacabana ir worth visiting. It has extremely huge potential for development, but as for now its rather rustic. Lakeside has very basic facilities, but it is nice. There are tours to the Islands of the Sun and the Moon, where the Inca culture was born, and you can stay on the Isle of the Sun. We wanted to, but short in cash had to leave. Maybe it had the extra positive impression on me because it was relaxed - no harrasment by hostel, shop and restaurant owners! After Peru it was great. Just to walk, to see the people and enjoy the calmness about everything there. And if you are there - take the steep walk to the mirador. It opens for really nice views, and you can get down on the alternative route: not taking the steps...

We also had breakfast in the market, trying chicha morada, some doughnut type sweet things, and tea, and during the lunch waiting for the boat to the Island of the Sun watched at the nearby restaurant/bar 3 local musicians (drunk already by then) sing. Therefore the heading - drunk people sing as bad everywhere :) It was funny. Later that night, on our way to La Paz, we had to cross a lake pass on a boat and waiting for the bus to be taken over on bigger platforms (takes slower) had opportunity to observe the dancing and singing at the main square of that town (cant tell you the name now...). There as well, people had been celebrating most probably the whole day long and by 9 pm and many beers later imagine how some of them looked. Not that different to a drunk Latvian, British or Spanish guy, whos wife is trying to get him home. It was funny, but I could also see that people were really enjoying the time.

Late at night we arrived to La Paz, and as my guide book (Spanish) says, the taxi drivers are reliable - we were fortuante to be taken to the hostel by one of those reliable guys. So, our La Paz adventure starts now, and more news will follow.