Bolivia

I decided to treat myself (£3) to a lovely hotel up on a hill overlooking Lake Titicaca in  the Bolivian town of Copacabana. Bolivia is a country full of extremes: it is among the coldest, warmest, windest, driest, saltiest and unfortunately poorest coutries on earth; the latest you notice immediately upon arrival when crossing the borders from Peru. Here the corrupt officers try to get some extra cash by demanding it from US citizens (apart from the $135 they have to pay).

I spent the day on magical Isola del Sol where somehow life seems to have stood still for this century. I hiked around the island with an Irish musician whom shares lots of the same interests and dreams so we had lots to talk about. On our way away from tranquility to La Paz we were told by the bus driver to get out of the bus to walk. Some people got out and then suddenly the bus started to move again. Before we knew it, we were on a wooden canoe inside the bus in the middle of the night whilst waves were rocking the bus like crazy. We all looked at each other with petrified eyes and since the door was automatic and could not be opened we opened all the windows ready to jump out.... What a day.