Bolivia so far

With a quick stop over in Puno, Peru we are now enjoying the music, tastes, intense sun and winding cobblestone streets here in La Paz, Bolivia. The route from Puno to La Paz was an adventure in itself but we made it in the knick of time before Jill fell ill to every travellers bug you can get.
In Puno, we were so lucky to be able to climb up to and enjoy the challupas (Incan ruins) completely alone, with our own private taxi driver who actually took us there, sat at the bottom of the hill and waited for an hour for us and then returned us to the city ... all for 40 Peruvian dollars (which equalled about $12). We then discovered that Peruvians in touristic towns have a real passion for pizza and so we indulged in 2 large pizzas and our first bottle of Peruvian wine ... a nice rose served at room temperature. 
The next morning we caught our first mini bus (which seem to be the way to travel, at least in Peru and Bolivia so far) which is essentially an 8 passenger van filled with 10 people. We zipped along the coast of Lake Titicaca, stopping in the town of Juli, which is said to be Peru´s ¨Little Rome¨due to the 4 large churches there. This may have been where the Dengue Fever started working on Jill´s core temperature ... or maybe it was the altitude. Nonetheless, we knew we needed to cram back in the next van and head for the border. The trip was far from over, but after a transfer in a town with a name something like ¨Chungachunga¨ and then to Yunguyo we were in Bolivia. Yunguyo seems to exist only due the fact that it is on the border, and so the town may have solely been made up of Ian, Jill and the border crossing guard at that time. Into another van and onward to Copacabana where we were greeted with a stunning view of Lake Titicaca, spotted with little sail boats and islands. Jill did not see sunlight for the next two days so Ian strolled through the town, enjoyed some trout and watched the millions of stray dogs (in between delivering Jill with juice and any sort of nourishment that could be tolerated). The people were very welcoming and the hostel that we stayed in was very warm and friendly ... and of course with an amazing view. One of the Bolivian women in the hostel was even kind enough to treat Jill´s diseases with some herbal remedies and sure enough, the next day Jill was back on her feet.
Onwards to Isla del Sol, to explore the wonders of Lake Titicaca at a different angle ... we took a small boat to the island, about 1.5hr away and checked into a small cabaña with a great view. We spent the day wandering around the island on foot, climbing up the terraces and enjoying 360 degree views. Women leading their llamas and donkeys and men tending their sheep made our stroll feel authentically Bolivian. At the top of the island, we had a traditional dinner of trout, rice, potatoes and vegetables with vegetable soup to start. Watching the one women cook in the kitchen was quite amazing, as it was about 8ft x 8 ft and no running water. The trout was fantastic ... perfectly baked, grilled, seasoned and salted. It possibly tasted that much better, just knowing it came right from the lake. We were also in the perfect spot to enjoy the sunset, and watch the lightning storm that pursued.
From there, we took another boat back to Copacabana and then onwards to La Paz, where we arrived Thursday evening. Although not traditional in style, we found a great little Thai restaurant where we shocked our palates with the lack of potatoes and rice. It was so good we returned Friday night as well. The Bolivian´s do good Thai!
Our time here has certainly been more hectic than the lazy days of Copacabana but not surprising seeing as the city is absolutely buzzing at all hours of the day. We found a great little spot to watch the Bolivian football team (ranked 115th) tie Argentina (ranked 10th) yesterday which seemed to do well for the Bolivian´s spirits as we were told often people don´t watch because they always lose. After dinner we stumbled upon Gato de Agua which we equated to a Blue´s on Whyte feel ... Bolivian style. The only beverages available were grande cervezas and premixed vodka and orange tang. We opted for the cervezas and perched beneath a massive papier-mache sculpture of some sort of war god and watched the entertainment unfold ... (hope to be able to post a video of the music and dance we watched).
La Paz has been a great place to do some shopping (we have to go pick up Jill´s custom made Alpaca skirts soon) as well as lounge in the very intense sun and enjoy the parks. Tonight we hop on an overnight bus to Uyuni where we will start a 3 day tour of the Uyuni Salt Flats, making our way down to Laguna Verde, where we will then cross over to Norther Chile!
Will try and post some photos now to show Lake Titicaca and our time so far in Bolivia.
Hope all is well at home - ciao for now!