Notes for SA part 2:

-Forget what I said about TP earlier…toilet paper is essential and should be carried around with you at all times.You never know when you’ll need to take a dump (and there won’t be TP, which is often).

-Plan and travel efficiently. This much should be obvious, but in practice it’s too easy to simply lounge around and waste days. One thing that I definitely need to work on is to plan and travel more efficiently, taking a bus during a time period where I would do nothing else, etc.

- At the borders where the guides bring you to money exchanges, exchange at least a little bit of cash. I made the mistake of not doing so (saving my dollars and soles for later when I’ll need) and being forced to rely on my friend for his bolivianos (for some copies of my documents).

-Definitely leave room in your bags before you travel (ie. don’t pack it to the max at the start). Having that extra room will allow flexibility for either fast packing (when you can’t organize your shit and roll it all up) and souveniers/etc. I just wanted to reiterate this.

-Along the same topic of backpacking, bringing a daypack or regular backpack is beneficial. Yes, it’s extra shit to carry, but it allows you alot of flexibility towards going out on a shorter trip/holding more important items that are easily accessible such as computer/phone, etc.

-Always list more time than needed for visas…better safe than sorry. If you find you really enjoy some place and are forced to leave early due to a listed VISA expiration date, that blows.

-stretch frequently. You’re going to (typically) be doing more walking here than you would back home. Add that to the fact that you’ll be doing more extra stuff such as hiking/biking/etc, your limbs are going to benefit alot from some extra stretching. It also will help prevent injury.

-Charge your shit when you can. If you’re just sitting in the hostel room, charge your battery (for your phone, computer, camera, shaver, etc). Sometimes charging stuff while away from the room can be hazardous (higher risk of things stolen).

12 hour bus ride tonight to Uyuni…no book to read either. FML

So we hung around for the day in Cusco, pretty much just relaxing the entire time. Our bodies were still a bit off, both in sleep schedule and phsyical motion. The day after we drove to Puno, Peru via bus, which took about 3 hours longer than it should have (instead of the 5 hours it took 8).

We were really suckered in…the bus ride was hell. Some crazy mexican (yes, I know they are peruvians, but to me all of these crazy freaks are mexicans) showed us into the bus station, selling us a higher end ticket for ‘LIBERTAD’, an elegant looking bus line (from the looks of the pictures). We said “eh, whatever, okay” and booked it. Big fucking mistake…

We walked outside and stared at the bus. Gone were the elegant pictures of a majestic two story bus: What lay before us was a hunkering piece of shit that was frayed with rusty edges and faded paint. What was once a top of the line model was now an ancient machine hunkering on its death bed.

We walked on board and the smell was rancid…the mexicans, for reasons unknown, like to sit on the bus with the windows up, resulting in them frying in the afternoon sun. With heat comes the smell of body odor, the stench filling my nostrils in mass effect, resulting in a curling grimace. The seats were faded and the air conditioner broken. From the moment I stepped unto the bus I quietly counted the minutes to freedom. Our bus had trouble starting and, much to the despair of the driver, the locals almost rioted, screaming “VAMOSSSS!!!” while stomping their feet. I have a short video of it and I’ll upload it unto youtube when I get back home.

I also noticed that this particular bus had only two gringos on it- us. (This is important later in our journey).

We traveled for maybe 2 hours. The heat was brutal and the smell overwhelming. Eventually, our bus came to a sputtering stop along the side of the road, my friend muttering “probably a bathroom break or something”…If only it were so.

So I sat outside, sitting aside the natives and livestock that pranced along the road. They all congregated together and I sat maybe 30 feet away, enjoying the fresh air and cool breeze. I talked with my friend (who was still on the bus) about not letting any mexicans steal our shit. The natives laughed with glee when they saw my friend (who is white) talking from the bus window. They stared at me as well and continued to giggle hysterically.

One crazy mexican asked me what I was, slanting her eyes and asking “JAPONESE O CHINO??!” I said “chino” and she started to babble in machine gun Spanish. Ever feel like you’re in the center of the room and everyone is laughing at you? Well, that’s kindve how I felt… They all continued to laugh and I felt like the joke of the party.

It was all in good fun (I think). The hilarious bantering between us and them reminded me alot of Thailand, where daily exchanges with the masseuses were similar to this. They grabbed some sugarcane from a walking donkey (and native farmers walking by) and handed it to us. We idiotically tore the skin with our teeth, failing horrifically. They cackled with delight and continued to banter with us.

Our drivers finally returned with gas and we continued our journey. We stopped at a bus station later on (already late). As we were pulling out our bus crashed into the loading ladder and dented the front part badly. Our driver must have been drunk or on coke or something…Our bus continued for another hour before breaking down completely, forcing us to change buses at another station and finally reaching Puno.

Puno was pretty meh overall…There really wasn’t a whole lot there. The standard thing to do at Puno, Peru are the floating islands, located on Lake Titicaca. These islands are made of reeds, continuously replaced as the old ones sink. We had heard from many people that they were kind of ‘meh’ overall and not really that cool. We decided to truck onward and head towards our next destination, Copacabana, Bolivia.

The immigration process was fairly easy. We had our $135, a yellow fever copy, and our passports. It was a fairly smooth process that lasted about 30 minutes. Copacabana is a small town on the way to La Paz, right on the edge of Lake Titicaca. The main attraction is the Isla del Sol, a small island about 1.5 hours (by boat) away. We stupidly slept in and missed the early 8:30 a.m. boat ride out there, so we were forced to do the 1:30 p.m. ride. This left us with only about 1.5 hours on the island before we would head back (or we could decide to stay on the island).

The island itself was alright, but we heard from alot of people that it wasn’t worth staying the night for. There was a 3 hour hike to some small ruins and maybe some other stuff…We decided to skip it. We stayed for an hour on the island, hiking up some trails and took some pictures and then returned to Copa later that night.

We traveled to La Paz the next morning and arrived here last night. The bus ride was really shitty again and we were delayed by another 2 hours, this time due to shitty road conditions. It’s a big city, reminds me alot of Bangkok (a little less urban than like…Sukhumvit though). We booked rock climbing for tomorrow and the death road bike trip the day after…hoping to head out of La Paz after that. So I guess I’ll have TRs in two days (rock climbing and bike riding).