Lucie & Rhys´s Honeymoon Adventure: Week 18 - Rurrenabaque, Copacabana, Puno, Cusco (Bolivia, Peru)

The week started at the lodge in the Pampas. After breakfast we all donned welly boots and crossed the river to wade into the Pampas, an area by the side of the river, like a wet savannah with few trees and lots of long grasses and mosquitoes. We spent an hour wading in the heat trying to find anacondas with no luck before the guide took the more adventurous into the deeper water to search leaving us to look in the shallow water. I don’t think he expected us to find anything but within 10 minutes there it was, slithering into a clump of grasses. We spent the next 30 minutes dying from the heat waiting for the guided search party to return to the boat so we could get back to the shade of the lodge.

After lunch and a brief siesta in the hammocks around camp we headed back out in the boat to find the pink river dolphins. Once in their favourite spot we put on our socks should they choose to bite us and got into the water. As it’s rainy season the water is quite high at the moment which means happy dolphins. Within minutes they were swimming around us. Because the river water is so muddy from sediment brought down from the Andes you can’t see more than a couple of inches below the surface so you can’t see them coming. The first couple of times they barge into and nudge you from below it’s a bit of a surprise but after you know what to expect you start to enjoy it and chase and splash them (to which they retaliate with tail splashes). After a good 45 minutes treading water we were tired and climbed back in the boat and back to camp to watch the sunset again from the mirador/bar.

Our last day in the Pampas we were all ready to leave, the mosquitoes are incessant and the humidity was oppressive. Still, determined to make the most of it we were up in time to board the boat to watch sunrise before breakfast and to watch a troop of squirrel monkeys run through camp. After breakfast we headed out to try our hand at piranha fishing. We already knew that there weren’t many in the main river because of the high water and were going to try a side stream but a fallen tree blocked the path so we stopped at a couple of points to try but to no avail. Marcel caught a couple of fish but no piranhas. After an early lunch back at the lodge we were back on our boat for the trip downstream to meet the jeeps. About half way there our guide pointed out an anaconda swimming in the river, 2 seconds later and a dolphin surfaced obviously hunting for some lunch just as our boat came level with the snake blocking its path to the river bank and safety. It didn’t’ take the snake long to decide that the safest course of action to flee the dolphin was to hitch a ride on our boat causing Carlie to scream and everyone to get out of their seats. Another boat coming behind us came to our aid and pulled up alongside ours and the guide caught the Anaconda to take it to the river bank. The dolphin was still swimming around wondering where on earth his lunch had disappeared to.

Another hellish jeep journey down the unpaved road later and we were back in Rurrenabaque. We checked into the same hostel as Ben, John, Kathy and Carlie who had been on our trip and then all headed to the Mirador swimming pool again to cool off. That night we had numerous caipirinias in a very hot bar to celebrate surviving the Pampas without catching malaria.

The next day we had a flight back to La Paz. Although we would have liked to have time in Rurrenabaque to visit the jungle too we were ready to get back out of the humidity. Once landed, we took a taxi to the Cemeterio district and caught a bus to Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca. After abit of a scare when we thought the bus had gone without us when we had to disembark for a ferry crossing and stopped for a Twix, we arrived in Copacabana on time and checked in to a cheap little hostel (a bargain at £4.50 for the room for the night). A three course meal later and we were ready for bed.

Our bus out of Copacabana was booked for 13:30 so we had the morning to explore the town. It’s a religious centre not only because it is the home of the Virgin of Copacabana (a statue) after which Copacabana beach in Rio is named, but because it is the launch point for boat trips out to the Isle of the Sun and the Isle of the Moon, where the Inca’s believed the sun and the moon were created. After admiring the Moorish cathedral we headed up to Cerro Calvario, a viewpoint over Lake Titicaca covered in stone alters where the locals perform ceremonies and light candles.

The bus to Puno was uneventful and the border crossing into Peru was really straightforward. In Puno we checked in to another cheap hostel and headed out to the main street for dinner and to book a tour for the following day.

The bus picked us up at our hostel early and after a 5 minute drive we arrived at the port and boarded our VIP boat (we splashed out the extra £2.50 each to upgrade for a comfy boat). The first stop was at the Uros floating reed islands. The islands were built by indigenous people fleeing from the incas by tying together reed roots and then piling cut reeds on top. They have to re-lay reeds once or twice a month and every 20 years they have to build a whole new island. After spending some time talking to the 4 families on the island we visited and learning about their way of life we took a short trip on a local reed row boat before getting back on our motor boat. The trip continued out to Taquile island, where much of the indigenous traditions are still in place and where UNESCO have recognised it for the intricate knitting that the men do. The men there have to knit the women’s wedding dresses and the women make their new husbands a belt out of their hair. After the most amazing trout lunch and a few hours walking across the island we were back on the boat for the 3 hour journey back to Puno.

The next morning we were picked up from our hostel again for a tourist bus to Cusco. For only a little more than a direct bus we got a tour guide, drinks on board and 5 stops along the Road of the Sun. Before we’d even left Puno we pulled over to try a local typical dish at a street vendor, roast lamb with baked potatoes – delicious. The first scheduled stop was at Pukara, although the ruins themselves were shut for restoration we visited the museum to admire the monoliths and pottery and to learn more about the Late Formative Period (500 BC- AD 200). Our next stop was a photo stop at the Raya Pass, the highest point on the Road of the Sun at 4,335m from where you can see Andean peaks and glaciers. The third stop was our lunch stop in Sicuani, as we’d stuffed ourselves with lamb earlier we couldn’t eat much but the food was amazing. Our fourth stop was at Raqchi, the "Temple of Wiracocha", a whole Inca town that is more intact the Machu Pichu, you can still see the walls of the temple, the columns and even the granaries. Our final stop was at a Jesuit church in Andahuaylillas nicknamed the "Sistine Chapel of America" – definitely not as impressive as the Sistene Chapel but pretty bling and worth a look. We arrived in Cusco at 5pm and jumped into a taxi to our hostel.

We’ve treated ourselves to a decent hostel set in a colonial mansion with beautiful courtyards, super comfy beds and a decent bar with views over the city. We’re back in a dorm since we couldn’t afford a private but it has been nice to meet people again. Two of the lads we met in Puerto Madryn about 3 months ago checked in to the same hostel with another of their mates since they have booked onto the Inca Trail on the same day and with the same company as us. We spent the first night in the bar before moving to another hostel for drinks.

Our second day in Cusco we felt pretty rough. We headed in to town briefly for a full English/Irish breakfast at an Irish bar but spent the rest of the day relaxing at the hostel. That night we stayed at the hostel bar again, playing beer pong.