My Last Post - An Ocean in the Andes

Palabra arribe, homies! This is my last email regarding the trip as I
return to the states today. actually I return tomorrow, but the gauntlet of
flights and layovers has begun. I have 10 bolivianos and 20 soles in my
pocket which I will squander on magazines, glass bottled coca-cola (much
more bubbly), and internet cafe´s until I return to the states as the
terrible exchange rates will probably return me roughly a nickel. Speaking
of exchange rates I{ve decided that in the future I should base my vacation
plans solely on exchange rates. My sister and I went out to dinner the
other night at Copacabana at Lake Titicaca where I ordered two glasses of
wine, a 14] pizza, and my sister ordered some vegetarian meal, a cup of tea,
and a bottle of water all for 85 Bolivianos, $11 dollars american.

This last week my sister and I were able to do some really
cool stuff. First off, we went to a soccer game, I suppose "awesome"
encapsulates most of the experience. I think it is a
requirement for anyone traveling anywhere in Europe or Latin America to go
to a soccer game while there. Because the single word "awesome" hardly does the event
justice I'll try an elaborate analogy: You know how much fun it is to see a baseball
game in the cheap seats center field section with the, rowdy, drunk, crowd is, Well, imagine every seat in the field crowded with such people supporting THEIR national pastime,
oh, and no security anywhere; this
was what going to the soccer game was like. M80´s and Roman Candles being
lit in seats right next to us, everyone yelling at something, and bottle
rockets being launched at the opposing team. During the opposing team´s
free kick at our end somebody hucked a pack of black cats at the kicker
which went off right next to his head causing him to duck and run about five
feet in the other direction. Needless to say he completely botched the kick.
Good stuff, got some good photos.

We spent a couple days at Lake Titicaca. An incredible place, it´s ^the
highest navigable lake in the world.^ They have a boat on their lake, big whoop,
it's much cooler to say that it´s like visting the ocean at 12,000ft. I think the
Bolivians actually think it is the ocean, they actually have a navy on the lake, I
guess just in case Peru gets grabby. We stayed in Copacabana for a night and
then spent the next day on Isla del Sol. Isla Del Sol is probably one of
the most beautiful places I´ve ever been in my life. Replete with white
sand beaches, tropical blue waters, and local farming community and villages
that conjure up images of Sicily from the Godfather movies it is stunning
sight to behold and most amazingly it remains largely untouched by the tourism
industry and any commerical enterprises; there are neither shops nor hotels and not
even the handselling of little Isla del Sol memorabilia. My sister and
I did a near solitary trek from the North end to the South end of the island which was
approximately five miles on an white sandstone path over rolling
hills past Incan ruins and deserted remains of stone huts conjuring up
images from a world out of Myst (a computer game for those of you not in the
Know). The stay at Lake Titicaca and particulary my time on Isla del Sol
was probably my favorite part of my three week stay in South America.

This time spent away from the hustle and bustle of America has afforded me
much time for self reflection and I´ve learned a lot about myself. I know
now that I can{t grow a beard. It comes in patchy; except around the neck;
I could grow a pretty mean neck beard out of the right three quarters of my
neck. The other thing I learned is than in my older age I think I am going
to be a pirate on Lake Titicaca, I{ll be known as Óld Neck Beard, scurge of
the lake, I´ll rob tourist boats and eventually save up enough loot to bury
it somewhere on Isla del Sol. Then I{ll create a map for the treasure and
put it behind an old picture in somebody{s attic in a house on the Oregon
Coast. Isla Del Sol would be a good place to do some treasure hunting if I
were a Goonie, and I am.

Well, thanks to all those of you who responded to my emails it was great to
hear from you.

I´m off to Colorado where I´ll soon quit my job and start some other
endeavor.

Will