despejar: to clear up; to work out the value of
That’s the word my host sister Helen used to describe the value of the trip I recently took. Another intern unwittingly asked Ashley and me if we’d gotten “all renewed up”, referring to our tourist visas which we have to renew every 90 days by crossing the Bolivian border. We both misinterpreted and thought she was talking about renew in another, more relevant sense.
Ashley and I took an overnight bus-cama to La Paz and spent a day wandering. We felt like country girls, zealously pointing out international food restaurants and gaping at the steeply sprawling city, so massive that the highest parts of the city seem to be painted onto the hills when you’re in the central, lower zones.
The following morning, we met up with two of the current interns in Copacabana, near the Bolivian border with Peru and right on Lake Titicaca. We crossed the border to Yunguyo, Peru, where we had to spend the night in order to get our visas renewed -- and made the best out of scarce resources to celebrate Ashley's birthday on the terraza of our hostel.
The next morning we headed back to Copacabana and started a several hour trek along the lake to the peninsula where we planned to take a short boat ride to the Isla del Sol. Being that I was traveling with super-sporty Ashley and two all-American backpacker boys in a high-altitude, breath-constricting environment, most of my pictures are from behind.
Isla del Sol is known for its beautiful views, hiking, and Incan ruins. We didn't arrive until sunset, and treated ourselves to extravagant staring into space and a luxuriously long dinner of trout and wine to nourish our aching bodies.
More hiking the next day, and wading in the lake.
One more night in Copacabana and another day in the La Paz, but the clincher was when we decided to take the day bus back to Cocha to check out the route -- passing through the mountains at sunset, it was a llama/alpaca/sheep paradise with little bright splashes of Andean cloths on the faraway green hills as everyone headed back home at the end of the day. A little bit of everything on this trip. Bolivia is amazing.
Ashley and I took an overnight bus-cama to La Paz and spent a day wandering. We felt like country girls, zealously pointing out international food restaurants and gaping at the steeply sprawling city, so massive that the highest parts of the city seem to be painted onto the hills when you’re in the central, lower zones.
The following morning, we met up with two of the current interns in Copacabana, near the Bolivian border with Peru and right on Lake Titicaca. We crossed the border to Yunguyo, Peru, where we had to spend the night in order to get our visas renewed -- and made the best out of scarce resources to celebrate Ashley's birthday on the terraza of our hostel.
The next morning we headed back to Copacabana and started a several hour trek along the lake to the peninsula where we planned to take a short boat ride to the Isla del Sol. Being that I was traveling with super-sporty Ashley and two all-American backpacker boys in a high-altitude, breath-constricting environment, most of my pictures are from behind.
Isla del Sol is known for its beautiful views, hiking, and Incan ruins. We didn't arrive until sunset, and treated ourselves to extravagant staring into space and a luxuriously long dinner of trout and wine to nourish our aching bodies.
More hiking the next day, and wading in the lake.
One more night in Copacabana and another day in the La Paz, but the clincher was when we decided to take the day bus back to Cocha to check out the route -- passing through the mountains at sunset, it was a llama/alpaca/sheep paradise with little bright splashes of Andean cloths on the faraway green hills as everyone headed back home at the end of the day. A little bit of everything on this trip. Bolivia is amazing.
posted by Kristin at 1:32 PM
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