Casa de la Libertad y Museo de la Recoleta

Saturday, April 30th 2016, Sucre Bolivia
Yesterday morning we slept in and didn't make it to breakfast until about 9:15. The buffet breakfast here is great. The leek quiche is particularly good and we followed that up with lemon pie. Why not, we're on vacation.
Once we were completely stuffed, we walked around the main square and got orientated. We were too late to have enough time in the Casa de la Libertad, where the Bolivian Declaration of Independence was signed in 1825, so we decided to save that for another day. Almost all tourist attractions here close between 11:45 am and 2:30 pm so we'll have to time our visits.
In the end, we wandered around looking at restaurant menus and admiring the town. Sucre is a university town with about 40 separate little campuses. It seems very clean and prosperous although there are still beggars in the main square and in the surrounding streets. Throughout Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, we still see Volkswagen Beetles, which were still sold here long after they were discontinued in Canada. We also ran into a couple of "Zebras", hired by the Bolivian government to teach children about traffic safety in a friendly, playful way. It seems to be a very successful program although, even when you do everything right as a pedestrian, you still have to watch for vehicles making turns. The pedestrian definitely does not have the right of way.
In the afternoon, we just enjoyed the sunshine on our rooftop terrace. We've included a picture of our room from the terrace. After happy hour, we shared a pizza at a restaurant we had picked and were home early, as usual, after taking a couple of pictures around the square.
This morning we managed to get to breakfast a little earlier. Just by chance, we met a couple from Red Deer, Alberta who invited us to sit with them. He is a doctor and she is a nurse. They volunteer with an organization called "A Better World" which we'll have to google. They have travelled to 82 countries at this point. We had a really interesting breakfast with them. We all agreed that one lesson of travel is that few countries are poor because of a lack of resources. In every poor country, there are some extremely wealthy people along with many extremely poor people. It's a question of politics and distribution of wealth.
After breakfast, we toured the Casa de la Libertad. We learned a lot about the Bolivian struggle for independence and saw many artefacts, including a huge wooden bust of Simon Bolivar, the actual Declaration of Independence and the original hall of independence, which had been liberated from the Jesuits who built it as a church.
After the Casa de la Libertad, we walked to a big park in front of the Bolivian Supreme Court building, checked out a few more restaurants and returned to our room to re-group. We couldn't get in to our next attraction, the Museum and Monastery of Recoleta until 3 pm, so we spent some time reading on the rooftop terrace.
Sometime after 2 pm we walked uphill about 7 blocks to the plaza overlooking the city and in front of the church and monastery of Recoleta. Shortly after 3 we were admitted and were taken on an 8 person tour which was unfortunately all in Spanish. However, it was still interesting. On the tour, we saw the nationally famous "Ancient Cedar" tree which is the only example left of the trees that used to cover Sucre. It looked more like some type of Ash than a Cedar but why quibble? As the tour continued, we saw lots of religious paintings and artefacts and ended up in the so-called choir above and at the back of the church, but only the present-day Jesuit monks are allowed to sit there.
There were elaborately carved wooden seats from the 1870s here, depicting some Jesuit missionaries of this order who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1595 by the Japanese people they were trying to convert. Some of the carvings appeared to be children, not adult missionaries, so we're not sure what that's about.
Yesterday was sunny and 24C. Today was cloudy this morning but this afternoon is sunny and about 15C. Fall is here. Tonight, we ate goulash at El Germen. Tomorrow, we'll probably tour some of the cathedrals.

La Paz to Sucre

Thursday, April 28th, 2016
Yesterday evening we noticed "The English Pub" just down the street from our hotel so we went in for bangers and mash for me and fish and chips for Anita, all washed down with Bolivian draught beer. Not bad. We were back in our room early as usual.
This morning after Skyping our granddaughter, who is 1 year old today, we had a leisurely breakfast and paid our bill. We had already arranged an airport transfer at 11 am for 70 Bolivianos ($14). After packing up, we were in the lobby by 10:50 and a small van was waiting for us. It took about 40 minutes to climb the steep, congested streets of La Paz to get to the airport in El Alto above the city.
La Paz was founded by the Spanish in the canyon where the Aymara indigenous people lived to avoid the harsh weather of the altiplano above. Gradually, the city expanded up the steep slopes and eventually the satellite city of El Alto grew on the flat plain. The airport in El Alto has very long runways because it takes planes a long time to take off at this altitude.
The natural setting of La Paz, with the steep canyon, high plain, snow capped peaks in the distance and lots of sunshine would be quite beautiful if the cities of La Paz and El Alto weren't here. El Alto, in particular is very drab - all 3 to 6 storey red brick buildings and grimy streets.
The La Paz airport seems quite small for a city this size. However, everything seems to work and it was no problem checking in with Bolivian Airlines and getting through security.
Our first 1/2 hour flight to Cochibamba left on time at 2:25 pm. It was a perfectly clear day so we enjoyed the rugged mountain scenery. When we arrived in Cochibamba it was sunny and hot. We quickly were escorted from one plane to the other and soon took off for Sucre. Again we enjoyed the rugged scenery. Much of what we saw was high, dry, treeless and devoid of human habitation. In some of the river valleys we saw small farms. It's amazing where people can eke out a living.
The Sucre terminal is quite small with only 1 little luggage carousel. After the quick turnaround in Cochibamba, we were pleasantly surprised to see our packs appear. Outside the terminal, about 6 or 8 taxi drivers were right in our faces immediately. I picked one old guy who didn't look like an axe murderer and he led us to his car.
We were a little surprised to see the jalopy he was driving. He said it would cost 30 Bolivianos ($6 CA) to take us to our hotel, which seemed a little high but within reason, so we got in. He was driving an old Datsun which he must have bought about 50 years ago when he first learned to drive. Even the dashboard was rusty. Looking over the front passenger seat, I could see the road going by through a hole in the floor. When we went around every corner, the wheel bearings squealed. When we stopped, the brakes squealed. Luckily the weather was warm because we had to drive with all the windows open because of the exhaust fumes. No doubt his exhaust pipe was full of holes. When he changed gears, the clutch seemed to slip. At each of the many small hills we wondered if we would make it over the top. Meanwhile he honked his horn at nothing. However, in about 15 or 20 minutes, we arrived at our hotel, none the worse for wear.
Sucre is in a valley surrounded by low mountains. At 2,750 metres (9,000 feet), it's 3,000 feet lower than La Paz so it's warmer and easier for breathing. It's the actual capital of Bolivia although all the governing takes place in La Paz. Sucre is known as the most beautiful city in Bolivia with many whitewashed stucco buildings.
We had decided to pay a little extra for a room because we're starting our last week of travel and we know we're well under budget anyway. The Hostal de Su Merced was highly rated so we decided it might be worth the $67 US + 13% tax they're charging. When we saw our room we were happy with our choice. We have one of two top floor rooms. From any of our 3 big windows, we can see over most of the rooftops of Sucre. We have a nice bright room, bathtub, an electric heater, a small fridge, good wifi, included breakfast and really nice decor. Well worth it.
After getting settled, we walked the few blocks to the main square and looked for a restaurant. We settled on one with good reviews from Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor called the Bibliocafe where we shared a plate of nachos and a one litre beer. Tomorrow we'll explore Sucre.

Touring Central La Paz On Our Own

Wednesday, April 27th, La Paz Bolivia
At the end of our tour yesterday, our Red Cap guides had explained a little bit about Bolivian politics. There are many protests and they can turn violent. We had been turned away at the Plaza Pedro D Murillo, adjacent to the Presidential Palace, for that reason. In fact, the Presidential Palace is known as the "Palacio Quemado" (Burned Palace) because it has been gutted by fire so often. In 1946, the then president was the last one dragged from the palace and hung from a lamppost in the plaza by an angry mob. We've enclosed a poor picture of today's barricade from across the street.
Our guides had mixed feelings about the current president, Evo Morales. He has done a lot to curb racism and promote indigenous pride. He has re-nationalized a lot of the public infrastructure that was sold off by a previous president who took the profits and ran to the US. This happened only a dozen years ago.
However, Morales also says some things without thinking. For example, he said that  the female hormones fed to chickens to make them grow faster was causing the men who ate them to turn gay. He had to apologize to both the chicken producers and the gay community. He also said that, since Bolivia is underpopulated, he would tax women without children and outlaw condoms. He had to apologize for that too. There's actually a popular book of all his wild statements.
Morales is also changing the constitution in an attempt to hold power longer. This is making many Bolivians very nervous.
This morning after breakfast, we reserved this hotel again when we return from Sucre. It's a bit dreary but it's cheap and we'll only be here for about 15 hours overnight before we fly to Lima.
We went back to the San Francisco Plaza and Church to see more for ourselves. First we stopped inside the Church, which is very ornately decorated. The stone carvings on the walls, ceilings and pillars were made by Incan stone carvers so they reflect some traditional indigenous beliefs. Above the altar were 20 to 30 mirrors. According to our Red Cap guides, the indigenous people who first came to the Church had never seen their own images before and were fascinated by mirrors so the priests used mirrors to lure them in. The priests told them after they had a look that the mirrors had captured their souls but, not to worry, if they came to Mass every day for the rest of their lives, their souls would be okay. Nowadays, although about 80% of Bolivians identify themselves as Roman Catholic, only about 10% go to church.
For 20 Bolivianos each ($4 CA) we got a private tour of the church and monastery museum. One part is closed off since there are still monks living there. We climbed up a narrow passage  (pictured) to the bell tower where we could see the handicapped tent city in the plaza.
When we went back out to the plaza, the handicapped people were just starting a protest march to somewhere. We gave one person a donation and then moved on up through the Mercado Lanza to the Plaza Alonzo de Mendoza. From there we walked down and around the Plaza Pedro D Murillo to see if we could get in to see the Presidential Palace but it was even more heavily barricaded and guarded than yesterday. It was still only about noon but we were getting tired of the car exhaust and congestion on the busy streets. We walked back down to the Plaza San Pedro, bought a couple of pastries, and relaxed. It was the only place where we could sit in peace shaded by a few trees. In the park was one of the many shoeshine vendors. They all cover their faces so no-one will recognize them and see how low they've sunk to make a living.
Eventually, we walked back up through the food market streets and the huge Mercado Negro (black market) in which anything is for sale along its narrow, winding lanes. By a little after 2 pm we were back at our hotel. Tonight we'll just go around the corner to Martinni's Pizza for lasagna.
Central, historic La Paz is interesting for about one full day. After that it's just noisy and congested. If we didn't have to return here and stay overnight to get our flight to Lima, we wouldn't.

La Paz Walking Tour

Tuesday April 26th, 2016 La Paz, Bolivia
Last night was the first night in about a week that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night short of breath and have to sit up in bed for a couple of hours and breathe deeply. I was still awake for a couple of hours around midnight but my breathing was fine. We've only come down about 150 metres in elevation from Lake Titicaca and we're still around 3,660 metres (12,000 feet) but maybe I'm finally getting used to it. We both still get quickly short of breath with any exertion. There's just not that much oxygen at this elevation.
This morning before breakfast, we made an online booking of a "Red Cap Walking Tour" of La Paz for $3 US each. We had learned of this tour through our friends Bob and Germaine, who had been in La Paz about a month ago. At 11 am we met with about 30 tourists and 2 guides at the Plaza San Pedro, about 6 blocks from our hotel.
The Plaza San Pedro is adjacent to the San Pedro Church and, on another side, the San Pedro Prison. We learned from our guides that it's supposed to hold 400 criminals but about 2,500 people live in there, including the families of the prisoners. Anyone sentenced to a term there is on their own. They have to pay rent, buy their own food and look after all their own needs. Rents vary greatly, depending on the luxury desired. There are some 2 metre by 2 metre cells holding 6 or 8 prisoners while there are also drug lords with big apartments, whirlpool tubs, plasma TVs and WIFI. The prison is like a small city with legal and illegal businesses. Partly manufactured cocaine is finished in the prison and then thrown in packages off the roof to the dealers outside. This can happen in the middle of the afternoon. The police and guards are paid off so they don't interfere unless the wrong person picks up the package. The children of the inmates go out to school each day and the wives go out to work. They all go back inside in the evening. There used to be prison tours for tourists run by the inmates in the 1990s but there were some assaults and rapes so that business was banned. It sounds like something made up for TV but it's real right now about 10 blocks from our hotel.
We walked up through the food market streets. Indigenous women who wear the full skirts, long braids and bowler hats sell food and many other things from their spots on the sidewalk or the street. The women are known as "Cholitas", a more acceptable form of the word "Chola" which is now becoming unacceptable as a racist and derogatory connotation. If Bolivians want to soften a word, they use the diminutive to make it more acceptable.
The Cholitas' style of dress came from their admiration of the full skirts of the Spanish women who came to Bolivia. The bowler hats came from Englishmen who brought them when they were constructing the railroad. Apparently they couldn't sell the small ones so, with some creative marketing, convinced the indigenous women that they looked like beautiful crowns perched on top of their heads.
When the Cholitas hope to attract an admirer, they may show a bit of calf from under their big skirt. Muscular calves are a sign of strength and ability to carry big loads uphill. That's considered very sexy. The Cholitas also hope to have big families to take care of them when they're old. However, even if they can afford to retire, they keep working because the indigenous commandments are: "Don't lie; don't steal; and don't be lazy". If they have extra money they spend it on better bowler hats which can be quite expensive and gold teeth and jewelry.
We were warned not to take photos of the Cholitas without obtaining permission first. Many of them still believe that a picture may capture their soul and hold it. The Cholitas have been known to be quite aggressive, which is where Cholita wrestling started. Now Cholita wrestling is a big attraction in El Alto every Thursday and Sunday and has even been sanctioned by the WWF in the US.
After the food market we went to the Witches' Market, where potions are sold for all manner of illness and unhappiness. You can buy dusts to blow onto the back of a person's head to attract them, repel them, punish them, make them crazy with lust and make them want to marry you. Llama foetuses are sold to bury in the ground when building a new home, as an offering to Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). In the near past, but hopefully not today, yatiris (witch doctors) could be hired to find a homeless person whom no-one would miss, get them drunk to the point of unconsciousness and conduct a ceremony which ended with the drunk buried in the concrete foundation of a big building as a human sacrifice. When in La Paz, don't pass out drunk on the street. You never know what might happen.
As we walked through the Plaza San Francisco, next to one of the main churches, we had to go between many tents that had been set up in the last few days. A group of handicapped people had made a 34 day march from Cochibamba to La Paz. Some died on the way. They're pressing the government for an increase in their handicapped pensions to 500 Bolivianos (about $100 CA).
We stopped for a break in the Mercado Lanza, a big ugly concrete structure with many small vendors booths. For 6 Bolivianos, we bought a deep fried stuffed potato that was really tasty.
Our tour continued to the Plaza Pedro D Murillo but, due to the potential for protests, the plaza was closed and was guarded by many riot police in full gear. In the end, we stopped at a restaurant with a big room that the Red Cap guides could use for some final explanations of life in La Paz. Great tour.

Copacabana to La Paz

On Monday, April 25th in Copacabana, we had a leisurely breakfast, packed up and checked out at the last moment at 11 am. At the front desk, we complained again about the sewer gas smell from the bathroom floor drain and the fact that the bathroom sink leaked water onto the floor so badly that it was unusable. The so-called plumber had been in to fix these problems after we had complained the day before but he just made things worse. The desk clerk immediately lowered our bill from $44 US per night to $30 US per night. It seemed like he already knew about these problems because others had probably complained before us. As we sat on our front lawn to kill time before our 1:30 pm bus, we saw the staff clean our room and make it ready for the next guests. If they don't complain, presumably they'll be paying $44 per night. It was a beautiful room. It's too bad they can't seem to fix the plumbing. In the end, we had put a folded wet towel over the floor drain and used the kitchen sink for everything so we hadn't really cared.
Eventually, we wandered down to the street leading to the docks for a set lunch. By 1 pm we had loaded our gear on our tourist bus and were ready to depart. This bus wasn't the best but it was pretty good. We left on time at 1:30. For the first hour we drove through the high mountain scenery with lots of views of Lake Titicaca.
About 2:30 pm we descended back down to a narrows in the lake. We all got off the bus, paid 2 Bolivianos each (40 cents) and boarded a little boat to get across to the other side. The boatman just kept cramming people in until all the bench seats along each side were full. There was no way we were going to sit in the little cabin so we ended up at the back beside the stinky outboard motor which had no cover. There wasn't a life jacket in sight. The wind was sweeping waves straight through the narrows as we crossed parallel to them to get to the other shore. We got a little wet from the spray as the boat rolled but it wasn't too bad. It only took about 10 or 12 minutes to make the crossing.
Our bus crossed a bit later on its own rickety old barge. After a washroom visit while we waited on the other shore, we reboarded the bus and were on our way again. The scenery on the other side gradually got flatter with more grimy little farming villages. A lot of road construction made it a slow trip.
Finally about 4:30 we entered the newer city of El Alto above La Paz. There were lots of unfinished buildings, piles of gravel and rubble and traffic congestion. Hell on earth. Finally we started down the steep canyon road into La Paz and arrived at the bus terminal about 5:45 pm. We had been told that the bus would drop us off in the tourist district near our hotel but that didn't happen. We took a taxi for 20 Bolivianos ($4 CA) to our hotel.
The Sol Andino Hotel gets good reviews on Hostel World and Booking.com but once again, the online pictures were probably taken about 15 years ago. Our room, bathroom and bedding are clean but, especially after our suite that we had just left at La Cupula, everything looked dark and dreary. It seems that there is no light bulb in South America greater than about 10 watts. However, it's only $36 US per night. We rented an electric heater for another $3 US per night, the WIFI is quite good and there's lots of hot water. All the basics are covered.
After getting settled, we went just around the corner to Martini's Pizza which is recommended in Lonely Planet. Our pizza was quite good, washed down with a shared 600 ml Pacena beer. Soon we were back in our room for an hour of Netflix and some sleep.

Sunday in Copacabana

On Sunday, April 24th, after breakfast in our room, we decided to walk up to the lookout point on the hill above our hotel. As we climbed up the steep street to the beginning of the trail, we realized that there was a pilgrimage route that led up the hill from a little church at the bottom. The rough cobblestone trail is very steep and there are stations of the cross every 100 metres or so. There were quite a few groups or families making their way up the trail and stopping to pray at every stone cross along the way. Unfortunately, all of the crosses have graffiti spray painted on them and there is lots of litter along the trail. Nobody seems to notice.
Near the top, we came to a little resting place where there were some vendors and people enjoying a snack. Men were drinking beer at 10:30 in the morning. We decided we'd climbed high enough and walked along a little trail out to a quiet place to sit and look out over the lake. Again, there were heaps of plastic bottles and broken glass along the trail. It's such a shame that there's so much garbage and vandalism in such a beautiful place.
Eventually, we picked our way back down the cobblestone path to the little church, fortunately without breaking an ankle. We found our way through the narrow streets to the big cathedral and went inside. Construction of the Santo Domingo cathedral in Copacabana was begun in the early 1600's and finished in the early 1800's. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. At some point, a descendant of the Incan emperors had carved a wooden statue of Mary, which was placed above the altar. Shortly thereafter, healing miracles were attributed to prayer before this statue. Eventually the Pope recognized this cathedral and statue as an unusually holy place. So, just as the pre-Hispanic indigenous people had done, Bolivians still make pilgrimages to Copacabana. There seems to be a mixture of Christian and indigenous spirituality.
Mass was in progress. We sat for a few minutes and then went back out in the sun. There we finally realized what the decorated cars on the street in front of the cathedral were all about. There were about 20 or more cars lined up. As cars pulled up to the end of the line, the drivers stopped, opened the hood and waited. A priest greeted the drivers and took payment first, of course. Then the priest dipped into his plastic pail of holy water, presumably, and sprinkled water on the car engine and all over the car. Sometimes he sprinkled some on the hands of the drivers. Many of the cars appeared to be new and were getting their inaugural blessing.
A little further along the line, the drivers got bags of flower petals and sprinkled them all over the cars. There was a flower vendor selling bouquets and people decorating the cars. Finally, right in front of the main gate to the cathedral, a man opened big bottles of beer, shook them and walked around the car spraying it with beer. Everyone was happy that the car was now blessed so they could go out onto the narrow cobblestone or dirt roads and drive like maniacs in total safety.
In Southeast Asia, we've seen extremely elaborate Buddhist temples and statues and all the ways that the monks have found to gather money from very poor people. In Budapest, we could have paid $2 to light up the glass case containing the mummified right hand of some Saint. However, making money by blessing cars right in front of the cathedral while Mass was in progress was a new experience. It didn't seem to have a hell of a lot to do with Jesus. We were reminded of the classic story of the wrath of Jesus about the moneychangers in the temple. We just shook our heads.
We walked back through the market, which was busier than ever on Sunday, and took a photo of a big bag of popped corn. There are all sorts of varieties of corn and potatoes on sale as well as the usual meat hanging out in the open. Refrigeration is minimal here.
Back at our hotel, we enjoyed happy hour on our lawn chairs in the sun. In the evening, we ate 2 different trout dishes in our hotel restaurant. Excellent meal. We made a fire in our little wood stove, got comfortable in our merino wool underwear and even stayed up until 9:30 as the moon rose over the lake and shined through our big stained glass skylight. Great day.

Copacabana Beach

On Saturday, April 23rd, after breakfast in our room, we decided to walk along the waterfront. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The previous afternoon, we had checked out boat trips to the Isla del Sol and had decided against it. The boat trips leave at 8:30 am and take 2 hours to get to the island. Most of the trips allow about 3 1/2 hours of hiking and sightseeing before there's a 2 hour  trip in the enclosed boat back to Copacabana. We didn't want to spend 4 hours in an enclosed boat cabin.
According to indigenous people's beliefs, the island is the birthplace of the sun while another smaller nearby island is the birthplace of the moon. The indigenous people also believed in "Pacha Mama" or Mother Earth and in various other spirits of the natural world. The Incas believed that the first Incan Emperor rose from the earth on the Isla del Sol. In those days, the village of Copacabana was a resting place before making a pilgrimage to the island.
Copacabana is still a religious pilgrimage destination but it is also a weekend tourist destination for people from La Paz. Along the lakeshore there are lots of food vendors, paddle boat rentals, boat tours and even a few personal watercraft rentals. The beach is stony and the water is cold but it's a beautiful, big lake. Unfortunately, at a couple of places there is raw sewage pouring into the lake. There's also lots of litter. Environmental awareness seems even lower in Peru and Bolivia than it is in Ecuador.
We walked along the shore out of town until we felt we'd gone far enough. We stopped and sat on a rock for a long time for a rest, chew of coca leaves and drink of water. After we walked back to town, we went up the main tourist street which eventually led to the cathedral and a nice square. Near there, we walked through the daily market and picked up a few more eggs and buns for breakfast. The market stalls and shops are typical of what we've seen elsewhere except that they're all run by short, full figured ladies in traditional big skirts, aprons, long braids and various bowler hats or fedoras. Buns in the shops are just piled on the floor in cardboard boxes. How many times they've been handled is a question. With luck, we get a plastic bag to put them in.
We walked back up the hill to our room and sat out in the sun on our lawn chairs for awhile. In the middle of the day it's great to feel warm in the sun while looking out over the beautiful lake. Eventually, we went back down to the main tourist street for an early dinner of pizza. Every town has roast chicken and pizza restaurants. People like to share a pizza as a social outing. Plus, right in the middle of the restaurants is often a wood-fired pizza oven, which provides a little warmth. As soon as the sun starts to go down, it's cold here. The waiters in the restaurants usually wear coats and hats, as do all the patrons. Although its not nearly as cold as it can be at home, buildings and homes are uncomfortably cool.
On our first night here, I couldn't get our little clay wood stove going because the wood and little bit of kindling that was left for me was too damp. On the second night, I made sure the fire got started so our room was much warmer than it had been. However, we still need merino wool underwear, a hot water bottle and lots of blankets.

Puno, Peru to Copacabana, Bolivia

On Friday, April 22nd, we checked out of the San Antonio Suites and caught a cab (5 soles or $2 CA) to the bus station. After checking in at our bus company's counter we did the usual last washroom stop and paid the departure tax.
Our bus looked good from the outside and was fairly comfortable but it seemed like it hadn't been thoroughly cleaned in about 10 years. It smelled like dirty socks. Nevertheless, that was the way it was for the next 4 hours.
We skirted the southwest shore of Lake Titicaca through a number of small, poor farming villages. After almost 3 hours, we arrived at the border with Bolivia. Everyone got off the bus, exchanged some Peruvian soles for Bolivian Bolivianos and walked into the little Peru immigration office to exit the country. One young German guy had lost his Andean Immigration Card, the Peruvian visa paper, so he was detained while the rest of us were checked and then walked about 100 metres to the Bolivian side of the border. We carried our day packs while our big packs were still under the bus, which would cross the border to pick us up later. No-one checked anything we were carrying.
At the Bolivian office, we filled out another form and were soon admitted to the country. Two or three Asian people, from some country unkown to us, didn't have the proper visas and were detained at least 1/2 hour. I expect that money was the solution. Eventually the young German and the Asians were admitted to Bolivia. We all re-boarded the bus and were on our way.
If we had thought that the rest of Bolivia looked like the border crossing, we might have turned around and gone back. Everything at the border was very shabby and there was lots of litter. Not that nice.
In another 1/2 hour we reached Copacabana, a small town on the south shore of Lake Titicaca. We could see our hotel, La Cupula, up on the hillside about a 5 minute walk from the centre of town. Carrying our packs uphill at this altitude required a few rest stops but eventually we checked in. Our little suite has kitchen facilities, a small molded clay wood stove, its own lawn with 2 chairs and a big window overlooking the lake and town. Very beautiful.