Guest Blog Entry by Selma Satterstrom:

Having just gotten back from our Machu Picchu hike late the night before it was a little painful to once again be at it bright and early as we had to catch a 8:00 am bus to Puno, Peru on the shores of Lake Titicaca. We had a 6 hour journey ahead of us so we decided to shell out the extra $3 for the more luxurious seats. We had large, comfy seats, leg rests, air conditioning, and easy bathroom access -- but "only pee pee, no poo poo!", per the driver. The 6 hours passed quickly as we slept, read, or played on our phones and iPads. The only downside of the trip was when the ticket salesman for the next leg of the journey told us that we would have to pay $135 in US dollars to enter Bolivia. All of us had done a bit of research on Bolivia and
none of us had come across any info on this visa fee. It was unfortunate
news, but we all just decided to accept it with the 'it is what it is' type of attitude. We were also very thankful that this guy gave us this info so that we didn't show up at the border empty handed and s*** out of luck.

We arrived in Puno in the afternoon and caught a cab to our hostel. We
checked in to our accommodations for the evening -- G, A, Bryan, and El
Guapo in a 4 bed room and me and my sweetie in the matrimonial room --
and then set out to get everything in order for our border crossing the
next day. We found an ATM that dispensed US dollars and pulled out our $135 each. We also popped into a local copies/photos store and got
photocopies of our passports as well as color photo of each of us, which would also be necessary to enter Bolivia. After we attended to business we decided to take a stroll through Puno and down to the lake.

Now, we knew that Puno wasn't really a place that one would want to visit, but more so a necessary stopover on the road to Bolivia, but we thought maybe it would have something to offer to us besides crowds of locals and dirty streets. We made it down to the lake and tried to find a decent viewpoint, but alas settled on standing on a bunch of garbage to take a quick group shot. We made our way back to the main tourist
drag and made a quick pitstop at a mega store to pick up some snacks
for the next day. It was absolute pandemonium in there as what seemed
like the whole town was buying everything from groceries to TVs to
washing machines. We bought our waters and snacks and headed back to
the hostel and then out again for dinner. We picked a place with good
reviews on the main strip and had a lovely dinner before heading back to our hostel for the night.

We woke up around 6, packed up, and ate the free breakfast the hostel, as we had a 7:00 am bus to catch. We were expecting a ride to the bus station from the hostel since yesterday they said it was included in our stay, but of course this morning the guy seemed to know nothing about it. Adrian argued with him for a few minutes but in the end we
cut our losses and hailed a cab. A fare to the bus station was super cheap, but it was the principle of the matter...why would he say he'd give us a ride one day and act like he didnt know what we were talking about the next?

We boarded the bus for our 3-4 hour ride to Copacabana, Bolivia, slightly nervous for the border crossing since you never know what will happen or how long it will take. The ride to the border went by quickly, except that as the day wore on the temperature in the bus kept increasing and for this leg
of the journey we were on the upper level with no air or windows. The border crossing itself went very smoothly as we exited the bus, got
stamped out of Peru, walked across the border and into Bolivia, filled
out the paper, and ponied up the cash. We were the last ones back on the now stiffling bus since we were the only Americans and therefore the only ones required to fill out extensive forms and shell out cash. We charge Bolivians large Visa fees to come into our country so they do the same for us; tit for tat.

We arrived in the cute little lakeside town of Copacabana in the late
morning and caught a ride with our
hostel's shuttle up to Hotel Utama, our digs for the evening. We checked into our 3 rooms and lounged around in the common area deciding how we wanted to spend the next few days. We could stick to the plan and take the afternoon tour out to la Isla del Sol for a half day tour or we could stay an extra night in Copacabana and chill this afternoon
and then do a full day tour out to the island the next day. We decided to stick with our original plan and quickly got ready for our boat trip out onto Lake Titicaca to the Island of the Sun.

We boarded the boat and 1 & 1/2 hours later our carnie-esque captain landed us safely on the shores of la Isla del Sol. We paid our 5 bolivianos (less than $1) to the gatekeeper of
the island and had about 50 minutes to wander around. Lance and Steve
posted up in the shade while the rest of us started hiking up the path that led up the hill. We hiked uphill passing nothing of major significance, only a few hostels and restaurants along the way. The views of the lake and the Cordillara mountains looming in the distance was the highlight of the walk. At around the 25 minute mark we decided to turn back since we had to catch the boat. We got on the boat and
drove 10 more minutes to another part of the island where we had 15 minutes to check out the ruins. We climbed around the small cluster of buildings for a few minutes and then got back on he boat for our 1 & 1/2 hour ride back to Copa. The trip back seemed to drag on and on and we were all left wishing that somehow this cruise would magically become a booze cruise. Finally we reached Copa and went directly to the main street to find a place to eat since we were all starving. We walked up and down the street trying to decide between the many similar looking estblishments all serving similar food. El Guapo eventually pulled the trigger on a place with cool lighting and we sat down craving a good meal and cold beers.

We ordered a bunch of big Pilseners
and then a few minutes later saw the waiter leave the restaurant carrying a bin of empty beer bottles. He returned minutes later with a crate of full beers. He brought us our Pilseners and we asked, "Fria?" He shook his head and we sighed as we accepted the warm beers and asked for a few cups of ice.

We took a quick break from our warm beers and stepped out of the restaurant for a moment and catch a glimpse of a
gorgeous sunset over the lake. Overall our dinner was very disappointing as Gina and I deemed our trout and veggies "good", Steve said his burger was okay, and Adrian, Lance, and Bryan gave their cold, sandy meals two thumbs down. At least everything is cheap in Bolivia and their crappy meals only cost them around $4.

We left the restaurant and decided to stop in for a drink at another restaurant so that we could end the night on a high note. We sat down at an eclectic
restaurant excited to order one of the many cold beers they promised they had in stock. Before our waiter even took our order a group of children trying to make a buck off their musical skills entered the restaurant along with their huge dog. The dog proceeded to bark loudly in the middle of the restaurant, it's wagging tail hitting patrons dishes. After about 3 minutes of continuous barking and still no waiter we got up and left. We picked up a few mixers and some chocolate and headed back to the hostel to enjoy a few drinks in our room without a barking dog. We watched the Sunday night NFL game in Lance and Bryan's room and then retired for the night.

Our bus to La Paz didn't leave until 1:30 pm so we had the whole morning to kick it round Copa. I accompanied Gina, Adrian, and Bryan down to the lake to watch them all jump into the ice cold waters of Lake Titicaca. When we reached the shore we discovered that the water near the shoreline of Copa wasn't exactly clean, but Gina insisted in swimming in the highest navigable lake in the world anyway. We watched
as she walked out into the chilly water and let herself fall back into the lake. We walked back to the hostel, showered, packed up, and checked out by 10:30.

We spent the rest of our time in Copa looking through the shops and buying a few souvenirs. We ate a quick lunch and then boarded our bus for La Paz.

Our 3-4 hour journey on a nice bus
cost about $5. The trip to La Paz was fairly interesting since it involved crossing the lake. About 45 minutes into our journey we had to exit our big tourist bus and get on a small little boat to take us across a section of the lake. As Gina, Adrian, and I waited in line to
purchase our 50 cent boat tickets the rest of the boys ran off to find a bathroom with extreme urgency. My husband was unable to find an unlocked bathroom and had an unfortunate incident in an alley. These things happen when traveling in developing nations...

We got on the little boat and made our way across the narrow lake passage. The bus itself was put on a bus-sized barge and taken across separately. We reunited with the bus on the other side of the straight and continued on our way to La Paz.

The famous Lake Titicaca...check!