Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow

January 6th, Puno Peru and La Paz Bolivia

We woke up early morning to catch our bus to La Paz via Copacabana (the original Copacabana, not the one in Rio). This time we were smart and we got a 25 soles ticket on bus 'Tour Peru', which I would recommend. I read a lot about the border crossing being chaotic so we were ready for anything.

We left Puno at 7:30 am and got to the Bolivian border by 10:15 am. The border crossing is quite confusing but fun. You need to get off the bus and exchange your Peruvian soles to Bolivianos and then queue up in a little bare room, the Police station, where they stamp your entry form. You then queue up in a separate building - the Peruvian immigration office where they take the paper and stamp your passport.

Then you actually walk on a little road, around 300 meters, with pigs and cows grazing on the side over the Bolivian border (an arch) passing by little food stalls, until you finally enter the immigration office for Bolivia! It was so cool, I've never actually walked across the border to enter a country. At this point, all Americans have to pay a fee of $135 because of the high fees Bolivians pay to enter the US. It's hilarious because all the Americans we met also find it funny and accept that they can't complain!

The border is quite strict and a family sitting behind us in the bus were not allowed to cross because their documents weren't in order. Additionally, the border is only open certain hours everyday, so you must make sure you take the morning bus from Puno, otherwise you have to go back, or wait on the road in the dark (I do not recommend).

8kms later, we get to Copacabana which is a very touristy town by the lake. We walked around a bit and decided not to stay as we knew there wasn't much to do (we'd already been to the floating islands). Additionally, the prices there were so hiked up, a packet of Doritos was 8 Bolivianos! So we went to the Tour Peru office and bought a ticket to La Paz. We were thrilled we paid less, after our last bus fiasco. Unfortunately, I made another rookie mistake. After paying, the guy told me that he'd written it on his clipboard and he'd be there at 1 pm when the bus leaves. I stupidly walked off without any ticket or acknowledgement. At 1 pm, there was no sign of the guy, but we got on the the bus. We started chatting with two Brits who were traveling for a year, when suddenly a guy starts asking for tickets. Bernie and I start explaining our situation but this man was not having any of it. 

So I jumped off the bus and ran to the Tour Peru office, only tor find the clipboard but not the guy. And his marking was a scribble next to our names which no one understood what it meant. But to our luck, he walked by just then and I grabbed him to explain to our bus conductor who grumpily let us stay. Once again we chatted with the Brits, good to hear their experiences. However I also realised that we are spending a lot of money and need to be a little more careful with splashing out. 

The bus got to Taqila port where we had to get off and get into motor boats to be ferried across. The bus drives itself onto a wooden raft, I kid you not, and is brought to the other side. It was really fascinating. After that back on the bus. We reached the shantytown of El Alto which I thought was La Paz and was quite scared. Turns out, it wasn't and getting into La Paz looking down at the city in a valley was really cool. 

We got to our hostel which is quite nice and our room is really huge, Hostal Sol Adina. La Paz is cheap, but the accommodation isn't but we decided that if we have to stay in a hostel, we're only staying in a private room with a private bathroom. We walked around the city and it's so much like Bombay. Stalls selling sweets next to stalls selling underwear, next to soft toys and clothes and herbal remedies etc! We passed through a lane of only hairdressers - around 50 shops on each side of the lane. And each one of them was packed! I don't know if it was a festival coming up or Bolivians get their hair done very often but there was both men and women in the same parlour and everyone buzzing around. 

We found a nice Mexican restaurant to eat in, at first I loved my food but pretty quickly started feeling sick and also drunk. I don't know if it's the food or altitude or the two mojitos so we gotback to the hostel where I promptly fell asleep at 9 pm. So far on the holiday, the latest I've gone to bed is 10 pm! I love this life. 

The title of this post is from the song 'A brimful of Asha' which I was listening to in the bus. It's true, everybody needs a bosom for a pillow!

A sample picture of the most beautiful drive