Daytrip to Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

 Attractions, Bolivia, Bolivia and Ecuador plus Medellin, Restaurants  1 Response »
May 202014
 

I wasn’t really expecting this daytrip to leave at 6:30am…it’s probably a good thing I didn’t know that in advance, or I might not have booked it.  I was beginning to seriously run on fumes by this point in the trip, but hopefully seeing Lake Titicaca would make it all worth it.  I had to admit, though, as anyone who wasted time watching Beavis and Butt-head as a kid, every time I hear Lake Titicaca I still think of the Great Cornholio…lol

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Anyways, enough stupidity. Got to the lobby of my hotel at exactly 6:30, and there were no signs of life stirring yet. There was, however, a petite Bolivian looking lady wandering the lobby looking puzzled, so I asked who she was looking for. Yes, she was my guide…and the driver was on the way. This was all in Spanish, because up until this point she seemed extremely reluctant to speak English. She eventually warmed up, and we were underway.

It was about a 90 minute drive to Huatajata where we would pick up the hydrofoil across the lake.  Although this was scheduled to be a group tour, there was nobody else booked from La Paz today, so I’d have the van to the hydrofoil all to myself.  Additionally, the hydrofoil ride would be all alone, and we would pick up a large group of…you guessed it….Swiss tourists coming from Peru in Copacabana for the second part of the trip.

We made it Huatajata on time, after a long drive through the sprawling expanses of El Alto.  Once there, there was a “museum” to see before starting the trip.  When I was booking this, I discussed with several Bolivians I knew, and they all recommended to make the booking with Crillon Tours.  Seems they had built much of the tourist infrastructure on the lake, including the hydrofoils, and had all the connections to make the trip the best possible.  They’d even built a museum on Huatajata telling a bit of the history around Lake Titicaca, both before and after the arrivals of the Spanish.  I was given 20 minutes to check out the museum while my guide got everything sorted for the hydrofoil. First highlight of the museum, a burial mummy:

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…followed by the arrival of the Spanish:

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Manco Capac, the first Incan incarnation of the Sun God, and his sister and Mama Ocllo in a traditional boat….

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Outside the museum were some friendly alpacas (or are they llamas?)  just hanging around….

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Uyuni to La Paz, and La Paz Part II

 Airports, Bolivia, Bolivia and Ecuador plus Medellin, Flights, hotels, Restaurants  1 Response »
May 182014
 

Originally when I’d booked the trip, my flight back from Uyuni to La Paz was scheduled for 9:35a, which would allow me to sleep in slightly, and still get to La Paz in time to have a nice relaxing day to see the city. Unfortunately, once again, Amaszonas had other ideas. Points to them for communications, but 48 hours before my flight I got an email that the flight had been moved to 6:45am. Are you KIDDING me people? UGH.

This meant instead of getting breakfast and leaving for the airport at the sane hour of 7:45 or so, I would have to leave for the airport no later than 5am. Yes, this meant another 4:15am wakeup call. UGH.

I went out front at 5:15a as agreed with my driver, and he was there…sleeping in his car….with heavy metal music blaring. I was slightly disturbed, but after knocking on the windows to wake him up, we had a safe 30-40 minute drive to the airport. All the stars were out, and it was gorgeous in the complete darkness.

There was already quite a long queue to check in which took 15 minutes or so in the semi-open air terminal, and I was stuck in the back of the plane this time. No big deal. The problem was, after security, we were in a waiting room that was semi-open to the elements and it was -5C outside. It was absolutely freezing, and I hadn’t brought a jacket. I sat hunched up in a little ball for about 30 minutes and ran for the plane the minute they let us board. There was absolutely zero to see or do in the airport, except freeze and wait for the plane.

Amaszonas flight 301
Uyuni, Bolivia (UYU) to La Paz, Bolivia (LPB)
Depart 6:45, Arrive 7:35, Flight Time 50 minutes
Canadair CRJ-200, Registration CP-2733, Manufactured 1998, Seat 11D

This flight was completely full, and I had the pleasure of an overly chatty Indian seatmate from Mumbai who insisted on talking for the entire 50 minutes. Even when I put in my earbuds, he prattled on and on. Ugh. Not at this hour, please. Impressively, for a full flight of 50 people and only 40 minutes in the air, the flight attendants made two full passes with drinks. I was impressed! The Coke Zero was the only thing keeping me going.

Landed in La Paz right on time, but there was one problem.   It was rush hour, and it took nearly 90 minutes to get to the Radisson.  Fortunately I knew the fair price this time, and the taxi driver was happy to accept it.  Got to the hotel just after 9, but my room wasn’t ready yet…so they invited me to go up to the executive lounge for breakfast.  Well, that was nice!  Had a small breakfast, and by the time I was done my room was ready.

They’d upgraded me to the executive floor for some reason, which was slightly nicer in furnishings than my previous room.  I collapsed on the bed, and caught an hour nap to try and feel somewhat human.

After I woke up, I headed out to walk the city.  My first stop was the office of Crillon Tours, where I had to pay for my trip to Lake Titicaca the next day.  The walk there was about 15 minutes, and it was a good chance to watch the city going about its business on a week day.  There was, once again, nearly no English spoken in the office when I got there, but eventually I found the person I needed, got the tour paid by credit card, and I was off to walk some more.

I was headed to the old part of the city where some colonial buildings still stood, but on the way I ran into a group of…zebras?  I have no idea what this was all about….

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Just ten minutes further along, I ran into a chain gang of prisoners doing some hard manual labour repairing a road.  And being supervised by….a police dog?  I was beginning to wonder about Bolivians and animal costumes….

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Finally, after a 20 minute walk uphill, and stopping frequently to catch my breath, I reached Calle Jaen, where some old colonial buildings stood.  The streets were narrow, and the angle of the sun made it hard to get a good pic, but this was my best attempt:

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I kept walking back through the city, and my next stop was the Mercado de las Brujas – the witches’ market.  You could by all sorts of interesting “ingredients here” including dried llama fetuses.  Supposedly when you’re building a new building, be it a house, office, or whatever, you bury one of these dried llama fetuses in the foundation for good luck.  Go figure….

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