Monday 10 March 2014

Copacabana - Bolivia

The fun begins...

Kicking around for a few days we had a brief taste of Bolivia, probably not the best start in a touristy town as the locals don't seem to like white faces.

None the less we found a hostal with good parking and a nice coffee place to play gringo in.



Ellen and (Pauls girlfriend) Pau at a cafe



Paul and I chewing the fat



Taking the boat ride we were supposed to have been taken to the northern tip of Isla De Sol so we could walk back the length of the island but halfway there the boat operators so no they were not going ???? WTF we paid for that, no was answer even though it was ticked on our ticket.

The times they stated on the schedule for the day resembled nothing like what actually happens, the boat has two motors and they only ran one so they didn’t us too much fuel but then we took twice as long ???? WTF

Also the engine was on about 1/4 throttle at most and people on the boat were saying WTF is it with these guys.

Titicaca Tours, NOT recommended by any stretch.

Also we were told our ticket was all inclusive ... until we landed on the island and they wanted $5 Bolivianos each to land, then on Isla De La Luna where they want $10 Bolivianos.

While the day was not a write-off our intended hike and so on was completely changed by them for no apparent reason, the others on the boat full spanish speaking (Argies and Chileans) were also wondering why but no explanation was offered.....welcome to Bolivia!!

Some touristy boats in the water



Ellen taking a swim at 4000 meters



While in Copacabana we meet some other overlanders with a weapon of a kickarse truck



I hope Bolivia internal gets better, for me Bolivia has been the country of most interest however at this point .... well the people are certainly not making it with enthusiasm.





So far the Bolivian people don’t want to deal with you (us), can’t be bothered and will lie to your face but they want our money, they are all carrying long faces and always when you look at them they look back like you owe them something.

Their first attempt at anything is to fleece you of money and they have no issue doing it, when questioning their price they get anti ... even when they know it is way over the top.

Hmmm, this is gonna be fun.

Now for the good bit, there is a cafe called km zero, now the guys who own it are moto heads and were very helpful, funny thing is he said Bolivians will only be friendly to you are carnival.....rest of the time nup .... interesting.

Their family owned cafe



Brothers GS which was the initial drawcard for us going in to check it out, same cafe above with good coffee



This was bizarre too, blessing their vehicles at the church with beer, drinking the beer then driving off drunk ... not sure that is my gig

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