Bolivia, Home of the World's Highest Everything

Yes, I am alive. It's been a while since I've posted anything so I have a lot of catching up to do. My first stop in Bolivia was along the shores of Lake Titikaka in a town called Copacabana. The plan was to check out some local islands where the Inka's believe their forefathers came from before heading to La Paz. After arriving in the late morning after an overnight bus journey, Niall and I checked into a hostel right next to the lake. We tried to hit up an ATM but all the banks were closed for lunch so despite not having money we figured we'd grab some lunch and take turns running back to the bank. Big mistake!!! Turns out the only cash machine in town was broken and the closest ATM was 3 hours away in Peru. Welcome to Bolivia! The only good news is we were not alone and a group of 10 of us were able to work out a tab system with the restaurant that Niall and I had lunch at. It might have not been so bad if there was something interesting to do in the town however we found out quickly that wasn't the case. The bank was positive that a new machine would be up and running the following afternoon however as one quickly learns in South America the locals are right about half the time. I went to bed that night wondering if I was ever going to make it out of this Bolivian time warp or if my debt to the local restaurant would seal my fate forever. By chance I decided to check my money belt in the morning and realized that 100 Peruvian soles (~$33 USD) had some how slipped between some papers. It was just enough money to pay off my hostel, my debts to the local mobs boss and get a bus ticket the hell out of there!!!

From Copacabana I boarded a bus to La Paz, the world's highest capital city at 3660 meters (~12,000 ft). La Paz is one of the coolest looking cities I have ever visited because it is set within a valley and the town starts at the bottom and spreads up along the valley walls in all directions. I spent the first day wandering around the many different markets of the city. The most famous is the Witches market where you can buy lama fetuss which the locals bury under new houses for good luck and all kinds of magical potions to cure anything you can imagine. One constant in all of the countries I've visited so far is that all of the local people have some "magical" tea or soup that they swear by. A celery tea saved my stomach along the Inka trail but now that I was feeling normal I wasn't about to try any of the crazy teas and soups they were selling at the witches market. The next day I signed up to bike down the "World's Most Dangerous Road." The slippery dirt road snakes its way down 3000 meters hugging the mountain with 7 feet of clearance on each side. Countless Bolivians have lost their lives along with road as it used to be a major road with constant traffic going in both directions. Luckily the government paved a new road three years ago and now its just gringo's looking for an adrenaline rush. It was awesome!!! You drop 12,000 feet throughout the day starting above the tree line and finishing in the humid jungle. Highly recommended if you ever find yourself in La Paz with a day to kill. The next day I went with a new friend to rent a 4x4 ATV and roll around the Valley of the Moon. Another awesome experience. We spent three hours getting covered in dirt exploring different valleys and lakes and took in some awesome views of the city.

After the Inka trail a large portion of our group was headed to La Paz so we had a mini reunion at our hostel one night. It turned out that one of the Aussies, Rob, needs to be in Buenos Aires that exact same time as myself so we decided to join forces. Now there are three of us traveling together and with all of our different backgrounds its been very entertaining. Unfortunately after the above mentioned activities there isn't much to do in La Paz so the last few days have turned into some late nights. After seeing the sun rise the past two mornings we all made the collective decision to get the hell out of town. Tonight we catch a night bus to the south to do a 4x4 tour of the antiplano and salt flatts.