The World’s Highest Everything

Our overnight bus turned and twisted its way through switchbacks all night long until we were greeted by a sunrise over the valley containing the Bolivian capital of La Paz. Entering La Paz in itself is an experience. The capital is nestled in a steep walled canyon at over 12000 ft above sea level and is known for having the ‘highest everything‘ in the world, from the highest sushi restaurant to the highest Irish pub . The economic center of the city lies in the valley bottom while the housing clings to the cliffs bordering the metropolis.

Our bus dropped us on the canyon edge and we walked downhill using a rough map to point us in the general direction of our hostel. Our destination was the ‘Brew Hostel’, an establishment that had caught my eye during our research. The name of the hostel is derived from the fact that it is hooked onto the Saya Beer Microbrewery (who of course has a claim at the highest microbrewery in the world). It was too early to check into our hotel (not unusual when arriving by overnight bus) so we had a handful of hours to wander around the city somewhat drowsy. We immediately found that La Paz is not only impressive to look at but the people are also cheerful and friendly. We meandered through the markets buying some produce and bread for lunch and eventually made it back to the hotel for our check-in. That night we headed to the 5th floor rooftop pub for $0.75 drafts of some of the best microbrewed beer we have sampled this year along with an equally impressive sunset view.

Over conversation with a retired pilot from Pittsburg who spent the past few decades transporting inmates from prison to prison (yes you meet some odd ones while traveling) I was introduced to the head brewer, Jack. Jack was a former Penn State student from Dallas and was wearing an 82nd Airborne Army cap, a good conversation point as I had worked with the 101st Airborne Rangers during a summer job in Italy during college. Between that and a love for beer we immediately hit it off well. Jack invited me to a Thanksgiving Day brew session at the brewery along with a Turkey dinner and I was pretty excited to say the least.

Thanksgiving day arrived and Colleen and I spent the morning wandering the streets of La Paz, viewing centuries old cathedrals and political buildings (the notorious PM from Iran was actually in town causing quite a bit of chatter on the streets and in the news). We arrived back at the hostel to find that the brewing yeast had not propagated properly and that brewing would not be possible for another day. Jack also informed us that Turkeys were apparently a rarity in La Paz, not surprising, so we would have to look into other options for dinner. We decided to kill two birds with one stone and spice up some already finished beer into a ‘Thanksgiving Spice Ale’ thus giving us some time in the brewery and a Thanksgiving treat as well.

Jack was a great teacher and showed me around the brewery as we boiled up a concoction of nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla and added it to a finished keg of Saya Colonial Golden Ale. The resulting product was delicious and I was given a free pint for assisting in the effort of carrying the 150 lb keg up 4 flights of stairs, tough to say the least at this altitude! We spent the rest of the day going over the blue prints for a new brewery expansion and paging through brewery supply catalogs making parts lists. Colleen joined us again in the evening for a couple pints and we completed what was a truly unique Thanksgiving.

We headed out the next morning north to the village of Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca traveling even further uphill to an elevation of 12600 ft. Copacabana sits attractively on the lake shore, slightly overcrowded with tour operators yet still retaining its traditional ways of life and small town charm. Our main goal in heading to Copacabana was to view the lake and head out to the island of Isla del Sol. The normal route to the island is to catch the direct two hour ferry from Copacabana but of course that seemed too simple for our adventurous spirit. We learned the next sizeable village up the shoreline was 17 kilometers away and from there we might be able to hire a boat to head out to the island. On top of this we were told the walk offered beautiful views of the lake and countryside; we were sold.

We headed out at day break the next morning and the walk did not disappoint. We wound our way through small communities and steep shoreline terrain with beautiful views. About two kilometers outside our destination we were approached by a local farmer out of his fields who in a combination of broken English (and our broken Spanish) and drawing with a stick in the sand, offered to take us by his boat to the island. We obliged, happy to give some side business to the local man and found ourselves on the shores of Isla del Sol a little over an hour later.

Isla de Sol is famous due to its Inca roots where it is said to be the birthplace of the sun. We were able to view multiple ruins on our walk from the shoreline to the main hilltop village where we found some of our best accommodation to date in South America. For $14 we received a spotless room with views out over the lake from three sides, a private bathroom and free breakfast. The plan was to wake early the next morning to circumnavigate the island touring numerous Inca sites but we awoke to a torrential downpour. We hedged our bets and boarded the morning ferry back to Copacabana as the island paths can be dangerously muddy in the rain and no big surprise, Colleen had already taken a tumble the day before.

Most travelers head to the Peru side of Lake Titicaca next, but we decided to go straight up to Cusco, thus ending our time in Bolivia. We loved the uniqueness of the country and the people’s hard work and resourcefulness in this high land of the western hemisphere.