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The halfway point was in site and Chloe´s departure was on the horizon but not before we undertook some serious South American debauchery in the shape of La Paz and explored the spiritual history of Bolivia in Lake Titicaca.
After the laid-back, at one with nature trekking in Samaipata we headed back to Santa Cruz, place of the infamous L. Lynch ´ladpack´ robbery. Determined to avoid a repeat of the incident we hung onto our posessions for dear life as we boarded the 17 hour bus north to Bolivia´s capital.
Upon arriving in La Paz we checked into the world renowned ´Wild Rover´, a hostel that tells you all in it´s name. We tried to keep our heads down as we were up at 6.30 the next morning for a 66km mountain ride down the road known as ´Death Road´of Top Gear and loads-of-dead-tourists fame. Several G´n´T´s later and the road was an ominous prospect but was a great experience and some of the views, as you ride from about 4.500 metres above sea level down through the clouds to around 1000 metres were some of the best I´ve ever seen, despite occaisionally straying to close to the edge.
This is made all the more difficult for the added discomfort provided by altitude. Altitude is a real embarassment as it leaves out of breath for the most minor things, like getting out of the shower or putting on a hoody, or at least that´s what Clo and I told ourselves. The two worst downsides I found personally are that due to your brain actually bleeding due to altitude you have terrible hangovers and headaches and you can´t breathe through your nose for all those extra bogies!
We then gave ourselves the rest of the weekend to party like the massive lads we are and experienced the best La Paz´s nightlife had to offer, from the incredible techno club, Traffic to the surreal route 36. Friday rolled into Sunday and we were supporting Holland, much to our dismay as they lost.
Monday morning and we were off again bright and early for the trip to Lake Titicaca, well known as the highest accessible lake and plumming depths of 437 metres as well as being 8,300 km squared. The Bolivian side is reputably far nicer and this is the side we visited from, although the town you access it from, Copacabana is only very small, it still gives stunning views of the lake and the Andean range nearby. Again, some cracking geographical diversity there for you lads.
After a night in Copacabana, (there´s not much there at all) we got the morning ferry to the Isla del Sol, ´Sun Island´, for you guys who haven´t got quite the same cultured grasp on Spanish that I have. This is an island where there are still many Incan ruins and some great panoramic views of the lake and holds a lot of spiritual meaning for the locals as it´s supposedly the borthplace of their mother earth, pachamamma. We got dropped on the north Island and trekked the 8km to the south. Having still not acclimatised to the altitude, mainly due to drinking far too much Chloe struggled along in my wake as I scaled the Islands ridge like a seasoned mountain goat.
We finally got to our destination and spent the evening in a three pounds a night eco-lodge dining on the a three course meal with Trout, the lake´s speciality for our main. The following morning we packed up and headed the 4 hours back to La Paz knowing that it was to be our final night on this leg of the journey together as Clo´s now on a boat travelling down the amazon and I´m in Cuzco, Peru, preparing to trek to the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu.
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