There are two types of people who visit Puno. People who go there to see the lake and then go right back where they came from, and people who go there on their way to Bolivia. As such, getting from Puno to La Paz is fairly simple and well traveled. It's also not completely safe and everyone is advised to do some homework and keeps their wits about. Think you're too smart a traveler to get into any trouble? Seen it all before? Hell I took a mini-bus in the Middle East and nothing happened to me! Well, tell that to people who were abducted on the road to La Paz. There was even a movie about it on Lifetime, we saw it 2 days after we got back!

Our bus crossing the lake.	The ferry terminal at the Straits of Taquina Crossing.

Does that scare you? It shouldn't, because as any traveler knows, exagerating danger is part of the program. If you learn up, take the right busses and don't do anything stupid you should be fine. I should also preface the rest of this article by mentioning that I actually really enjoyed this bus ride even though it sounds like a lot of headache, that's just the way I am.

There are two roads to Bolivia. The fastest way goes through the border crossing at Desaguadero. The slower and more scenic route goes through Copacobana via the crossing at Yunguyo. We chose the Copacobana route for 3 reasons. First, we wanted to see Copacobana, even if just for an hour. Second, we heard it was more safe that the other route as the border crossing at Desaguadero is known to be a smuggling haven. Third, if you go through Copacobana you get to experience this really cool water crossing at the Straits of Tiquina where they put your bus on a small flat ferry and float it across.

Everyone sells bus tickets to La Paz, but just go to the bus station and buy one. The bus station is right next to the port, so if you have a tour on Lake Titicaca, you can just visit the bus station before or after if you want tickets in advance. If you buy in town you will not only pay more, but you will have no idea what bus you will be one.

Welcome to Bolivia	A food seller in the central plaza in Copacobana

We mistakenly bought our tickets from the tour operator who booked our Lake tour, first they told us we would be on a Tour Peru (Tacna, tel. 051/35-2191, tourperu@mixmail.com) bus, which is probably the newest and cleanest options from Puno. Then when we picked up the tickets from their office later that night, they said Tour Peru was sold out and they put us on Panamericana (Tacna 245, tel. 051/35-4001, tourpanamericano@hotmail.com). They said it was the same quality bus, but clearly that was a flat out load of crap. There is really no way to compare these two busses, one was new with air conditioning, nice new seats etcetera, the other is best described as a 30 year old Peruvian bus. Sometimes when you're traveling, and you're tired you take short cuts and hope things work out, we should have just gone to the train statin and bought the ticket, but we were lazy. Luckily, even though the bus was old and looked a bit shady, and we paid more than we should have, we made it safely to our destination and met some cool people along the way. If we had never been told about Tour Peru we probably wouldn't have had issue with the bus at all as it was full of backpackers and tourists and had a bit of charm to it. BTW, in case anyone wants to know, the tour operator was Edgar Tours.

We caught the sketchy looking bus at 7:30, loaded our bags and kept a close eye on them until the bus left. About 3-4 hours later we arrived in a small town just before the border where the bus told us we could change money. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the bus company is getting something back from this cambio. There are several places to change money at the border, you don't need to change it before you get there.

Copacobana	A toilet at the border

About a 1/2 hour later we arrived in Copacobana and this is where it was most interesting. The bus driver told everyone going to La Paz to meet back at the same place at 1pm, an hour later. At 1:00 pm we returned to the bus, but by 1:20 there was no sign of another bus and people were boarding the bus we arrived on for the return trip to Puno. By this time everyone was worried that we either went to the wrong place or our bus brokedown somewhere. Earlier we had just joked that pretty soon a couple mini-busses would arrive and they would try to take us to La Paz on a mini-bus. About 5 minutes later two mini-busses arrived and told us to get in, everyone was confused and freaked out. Suddenly it wasn't so funny. What followed was a lot of confusion and anxiety as all our bags were tossed on the roof of the bus and we squeezed into some really uncomfortable seats thinking, "oh shit, if this is what I am going to be like for 5 hours I really might freak out!". There was one woman on that bus who apparently had a bad leg cramp who wasn't happy about the arrangement, she just about lost it. Pretty funny actually. Nonetheless, it turned out the mini-bus was there to drive us across town to transfer to the Bolivian bus, so a lot of high tension for no reason.

Please know that no busses go straight from Puno to La Paz, everyone must change from a Peruvian Bus to a Bolivian bus, and it won't be the same bus company. Your ticket will get you all the way there, but the busses are not the same operator. When you see that fancy looking Tour Peru bus and think you will be riding in luxury all the way to La Paz, think again, that's only your transport for half the trip.

Entering Bolivia	Peruvian Side

The Bolivian bus turned out to be was nicer than the Panamericana bus were were on from Puno, and once we were transfered and moving we were nice, comfortable, and soon fell asleep. About an hour after leaving Copacobana we arrived at the lake crossing. There you must get off the buss and head to a small terminal where you catch a small motor boat. The terminal tickets are about .50 USD each. They sure do fit a lot of people on those little boats, we all smelled like gas and the whole experience had just about everyone laughing at how incredibly crazy the whole operation was. See the video below showing the little boat, what fun. Meanwhile they load your bus with all your luggage on a wooden raft.

Once on the other side we met our bus and after re-boarding, we started the trip on a road that winded it's way around the lake with amazing views of the deep blue water and snowcapped peaks. The stretch between the lake and La Paz was about 3 hours and was mostly straight dry land with a few rural communities. About an hour before you reach La Paz you will start to enter El Alto, which is the largest city in Bolivia and really no more than a sprawling subburb. You will admire the seemingly endless stretches of brick homes and a lot of dust. I don't really like saying bad things about other people's cities, but El Alto is a really sad place. It was both extremely depressing and eyeopening to travel through there. After El Alto you can start to see La Paz down in the canyon as the road goes along the rim and starts to make its way down into the city. Our bus dropped us off at the central bus station where we caught a taxi to our hotel on Calle Linares.

Highlights

• Buy your bus tickets at the bus terminal in Puno, not in town.
• There is a time change between Bolivia and Peru, so don't forget to move your watch an hour forward if you are going East.
• You can exchange money at the border crossing.
• Make sure you see the bus you are riding on before you buy your tickets.
• The cost to take a bus between Puno and La Paz is about $15 USD one-way.