Currently, we have returned to La Paz for an unexpected medical intervention after an encounter with some local wildlife. More on that later, however.
On New Years Day, our hosts Oscar and Eli had organised a basketball/soccer match with some of the locals from their church. This worked out perfectly, since Snr. Cohen loves basketball and I love soccer. The altitude and sprinkling rain on the outdoor court added to the challenge, but it was all good fun.
In the afternoon we sated David's thirst for all things water-related by checking out the local hydro-electric station, and then proceeded to the giant statue of Jesus (3 metres bigger than the one in Rio de Janiero, apparently).
After a good night's sleep we got up early and caught the 7 hour bus to La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia. The first time you see the city proper, it is quite breathtaking. The road approaches from the 'altiplana', or 'high plane', which is quite flat. The road suddenly starts decending, the houses disappear, and you can see the city of La Paz pouring down the valley below you.
Once you get off the bus, the city is a mix of dirty, busy streets, crazy drivers and occasional parks, churches and tree-lined avenues. On our first night, we discovered Dumbo's, a restaurant which has appropriated the famous Disney character and provides decent meals, below average service and excellent icecream.
An hour-and-a-half out of La Paz is an ancient ruined temple in the town of Tiwanaku, named after the civillization which built it, situated near Lake Titikaka. The Tiwanaku empire apparently existed for about 3,000 years, from about 1,500 BC to 1,500 AD. The temples were build around 700 AD, subsequently abandoned prior to the Incas discovering it, and then pillaged by the invading Spanish soon after. The ruins themselves are largely unexcavated, with only a small portion of the main temple having been revealed from under a big layer of dirt. Still, there are some interesting monoliths (big statues) and an extensive network of channels which moved water all over the site. Very interesting, and well worth a visit.
After a couple more days in La Paz, which included museums, chilling out, booking tickets to Brazil and the occasional protest march (of which there is one going on outside right now, complete with flares), we headed off to the town of Copacobana (in Bolivia, not Brazil). On the way there, we had to all get off our bus while it crossed a section of the lake on a small ferry, and we did the same in a small flotilla of little boats. Thankfully, our bus made it safely to the other side, along with our backpacks contained within.
Lake Titikaka itself is huge - much bigger than we had expected. Nearby is the island called Isla del Sol, or Island of the Sun. It is the traditional birthplace of the Incan sun god, named Inti. It contains a few small ruins (including the supposed house, wardrobe and fountain of Inti) and some spectacular views. We arrived at the northern end of the island, visited a few of the sites, and then headed down the spine of the island towards our accommodation on the southern end. We followed the 'Path of the Incas' (everything seems to include the word 'Inca').
We had reserved a room at a hostel, but upon checking it out it didn't pass the Cohen Approval Test (a primary component of which is bed length - South American beds are not really designed for 1.91m tall Australians). We returned to a nice place we had seen on the way in (after climbing back up a very steep hill) and bunked down for the night.
Some of the locals were playing soccer, so I joined in. I managed to hold my own for the most part, albiet frequently running out of breath due to the altitude. About half-an-hour in, I noticed a small dog appear nearby. I ignored it and headed towards the ball coming at me and then discovered that it had attempted to attach itself to my shin with its teeth.
At this point I decided to retire from the game. An examination of my leg revealed that its attempt had been pretty minor, possibly assisted by my jeans getting in the way. However, it did manage to break the skin, so the next morning we headed back to Copacobana in search of a rabies vaccine. Any doctors on the list will be pleased to know that I had had a full set of 3 vaccinations prior to leaving Australia, and the bite was cleaned according to Travel Doctor standards.
Upon getting back to Copacobana the next day, we set out in search of the local hospital. It was situtated at the top of a hill, of course. Once gaining entrance, I was attended by three young female doctors. At the same time. Apparently not much happens medically in Copacobana. They were very friendly, but after looking at the bite, they all agreed that it wasn't serious and would be fine. There were no rabies vaccines in town anyway, unfortunately. They did arrange for a nurse to clean the bite and dress it, but we decided we wanted a vaccine anyway. Unfortunately, the only place nearby that definitely had the vaccine was La Paz, so instead of heading towards Peru, we returned here.
This morning we found the 'Centro Pilato', which is the main immunisation centre for the country (apparently even people from Brazil come here, mostly because of the cost). A friendly guard ushered us in (possibly jumping the large queue outside, although I'm not sure if that is typical for rabies bites anyway), and a bit later a friendly doctor/nurse (hard to tell in this country) attended me, got the down-low, and gave me the first of three shots. Amazingly, there was no charge!
So, we are stuck in La Paz for another two or three days, while I get my additional boosters. I'm not too concerned about the possiblity of rabies, even without the booster shots, but better safe than sorry, as they say. We should be able to get back on track by Monday or Tuesday, hopefully via the floating islands of Titikaka. After that is the 4-day treck to Machu Pichu, which should be both challenging and awesome.
In the meantime, this has been an even-longer-than-usual post, so it's time to let you get back to reality while we say hasta luego!
Los Davides
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