day 4 06/06

(late information! - blog novice! Sorry! to avoid confusion - all the adventures from Joc and Womble have been written myself! Joc!)

Up bright and early again! 7.30 starts!
-5 degrees outside!
The sun is blazing through the windows, but we are not to be fooled! its cold outside!

Spent the majority of the day exploring the ruins of TIWANAKU -600bc civilisation! We had a fantastice guide, and Les and Margaret did a top job of translating! however, I was amazed at how much I managed to understand without the translation!
The area was beautiful, the ruins were old, and the story behind them was very sad! In a nut shell, the incas who lived here built their homes, minded their own business worshipping the sun, moon, and a variety of animals during the Spanish invasion, the Spanish looted the place, and dug huge holes in search of treasure. The original people of the land disappeared with minimal trace, except the ruins we see today! The incas made several sacrifices of both humans and lhama. This tradition has continued through the years,(however, not as frequent!) we saw evidence of the latest sacrifice remains (hopefully not human!) from the winter solstice a few days before! These sacrifices were made to the Pachamama (earth mother) and various Gods of abundance and fertility.
By 1200ad the incas had disappeared!

We had a tasty lunch nearby! Most of us opting for lhama! Very tasty!

Few base jobs on the vans before heading of towards LAKE TITICACA!(230km long 97km wide one of the world highest major lakes 4000m above sea level!) magnificent views! as far as the eye can see! Once the lake came into sight the blue of the water hit us! followed by the back drop! lake, mountains, followed by even higher snow capped mountains in the distance! Such a beautiful scenery to enjoy while heading to the border of Bolivia and Peru. Getting closer to the border, we started to realise that it might not be as easy at the ones Womble, Les and Margaret were used to!

After showing our passports and driving details on 3 seperate occasions, we arrived at what we thought was the border to be told we had to go back and through the town! Once we arrived at the town, some young men directed us to the right (down a dusty track!) Driving down the dusty track, we were soon to end up where we had started from 15 minutes ago! no nearer to the border, but covered in dust!
Back into the town again we got directed back down the track again!
Thankfully though! this time, we turned left, through a bustling town center (full of stalls, people, bikes, rubbish, pigs, and of course dogs!!) to a dodgy looking building with a young boy directing us! Reluctant to listen to the boy, we were getting confused as to what to do next! Finally! - The boy was right!
He led us through immigration, and across the border, and helped us with various tasks! - ie. pointing out the buildings we needed and watching the vans! - for his trouble he got a few Bolivianos, and a pair of black trousers! (They may fit him in 15-20 years!)
Moving on into Peru, we were stopped by 2 more sets of officials, who didnt seem to be sure why they were stopping us, but felt like they should! (very repetative!)

Driving on through the countryside, with the scattered adobe huts, donkeys, and lhamas along with a variety of other farm animals we headed towards COPACABANA for tomorrows adventure! keeping our eyes peeled along the way for a wild camp for the night!

Saw my first green ibyss (later to discover that it was something completely different after all! but we had been informed on good authority initially that the birds in question were infact green ibyss's! unfortunately, the real name has slipped my mind!) - Les would be so proud! he has very kindly pointed out lots of birds, including an andean gull (that never sees the sea!) and a turkey vulture!