South America Day 4: La Paz to Puno

December 2011

On the road again. New day, new country. We boarded our mini-bus and drove towards the airport, heading out of town and towards Lake Titicaca (about a 3.5 hr drive). We caught a boat across the lake and just as we got off on the other side it started to hail for about 30 minutes! We drove for another 20 minutes to Copacabana where we had hamburgers for lunch at a local hotel. We boarded the BusPeru bus to the boarder (another 20 minutes) and crossed from Bolivia to Peru.

We re boarded our bus and spent another 2 hours to Puno. We checked into our hotel and went to have a look around the main square and cathedral.

That night we had dinner in a very touristy restaurant (that had great food and local dancing), where I had alpaca for the first time (very nice) and DH had the chicken in yellow chili sauce.

Stay
Italia

Eat
Balcones de Puno

Do
Walk through Jr Lima
See the Cathedral on Plaza De Armas

South America Day 3: La Paz

December 2011

Had a late breakfast at the hotel (included) before being picked up for our city tour. We drove through the heavy morning traffic to Plaza Murillo - with the Presidential palace, Cathedral and Congress buildings.

We made a quick swing to the Museo de Metales Preciosos Pre-Colombinos, to learn a bit about the Tiwanaku and check out the collection of gold items.

We drove up to Killi Killi for a 360 degree view of La Paz.

We drove down through the city to check out the Moon Valley, it would have been great to have more time to spend exploring this area.

Once back in the city we drove past the San Pedro prison and walked through the Witches market.

We got back to the hotel and walked towards the San Fransisco church, stopping at a snack shack for empanadas and salsa.

We checkout some of the other markets and walked the streets before meeting our tour group for the rest of our time in Bolivia and Peru.

That night we had a great steak dinner at the Steakhouse.

Stay
Hotel Las Brisas

Eat
Try the empanadas from one of the small street stalls
The Steakhouse

Do
Killi Killi Lookout
Moon Valley
San Fransisco Church
Plaza Murillo
Witches Market

South America Day 2: Santiago to La Paz

December 2011

Up early for our flight from Santiago to Lima to La Paz.

Living in Australia there's not much in terms of altitude, so when we landed at 4,200 m, we could definitely feel the change in air and our breathing. We caught a cab to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon adjusting to the altitude (the advice is take it easy, limit or have no alcohol and eat light for the first 24 hours). We did duck out for a quick dinner at one of the many local Frita el Pollo's.

Stay
Hotel Las Brisas

Eat
Frita el Pollo

Do
Nothing - adjust to the altitude