島には高い木はほとんど生えてなく、地形は乾燥した白やピンクの岩で形成されていて、しかも標高3800～4000mだったので太陽がギラギラ照っていてちょっと暑かった。。でもチチカカ湖の水がほんと綺麗で、白い砂浜がありました☆
The next day, we booked a private boat to the north side of the island with some others. This option would give us all day to hike back to our hostel in the south. But the boat was 200 Bolivianos and we could only find four others to share it with (still only $4.75 per person) a cheaper option would be to hike north, leaving early to grab the 4:00 boat back south for 10 Bolivianos. We bought sandwiches on the North dock and after navigating a few distractions with local dogs, pigs, donkeys and a bull, started climbing up the white sandstone hills of the north. It was a long, hot hike.
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| Animals EVERYWHERE! Thomas is trying to make friends with them.. |
そういえば遺跡にもシーズーっぽい犬がいて遺跡を回っている間ずっとついてきた。。(というより迷路みたいな遺跡をうちらより先に歩いて案内している感じだった・・
This dog was following us in the acheological site .. or maybe he was guiding us.
あと太陽の島では南側と北側で入島料金としてそれぞれBv.5、Bv.10とチケットを買わなければならないんですが、遺跡を全部回ってハイキングコースに沿って南側に帰る途中、その道を通るのにBv.15のチケットを売っているおじさん＆2人のおばさんがいて、なんか怪しいと思ったトーマス＆カレンは、もう北側、南側のチケットは買ったし一体そのチケットは何のためだと問いただす・・。たしかに細かく何のチケットとは書いてなくただ島の地図と名前が印刷されているだけ・・。そして他にも以下の違いが・・
怪しいチケット(⇔南側と北側の2枚のチケット)
・カラー印刷でチラシとかに使われる紙質(⇔青色の一色印刷でもっと薄い紙)
・チケット番号が印刷済み(⇔チケット販売する人が専用のスタンプで個々の番号をそ場で押す)
・日付がない(⇔日付もスタンプで押される)
ということでトーマス＆カレンはそのチケットに何が書かれているのか見せてと聞くが、Noと断わられる。怪しい。。トーマスはひたすら英語とスペイン語を混ぜてオフィシャルのチケットだという証明を見せろと主張。おじさんは英語をわからないふりしているのかそれには答えない。
結局トーマスは強行突破！おじさんは止めようとするがガタイのいいトーマスを止められるわけもなく・・。おじさん諦めうちらも素通り。。
そしてそこから2時間ほど歩いて行くとまた同じチケット売っている人たちが・・！(多分南側から北側にハイクする人もいるから2ヶ所で張っているっぽい・・)
トーマス最初は無視して素通りしようとするがAmigo! と引き止められる。トーマス、即交戦体制。"Certificato officiale? Governmento? No? No neccecito!" (政府公認に証明書は？ないの？じゃぁ必要ないね！)と英語をスペイン語の発音っぽく言って問いただす。笑 相手におそらく通じたらしく、さっきのおじさんほどしつこくは売ってこようともせず何も言い返してこず、なんか諦めモードに。てことでまた素通り。
十中八九偽チケットだったでしょう。
ロンリープラネットにも太陽の島には北側、南側、博物館と3つのチケットがある、と書いてあったし。でもほとんどのハイカーたちが疑問に思うこともなく払ってるようでした・・。まぁBv.15 = 約$2だからたいしたことのない額だけど・・でもホステルとレストランがたくさんある南側でBv.5、遺跡が数カ所ある北側でBv.10なのにトイレも売店も何にもないただの道を通るのにBv.15は明らかにおかしい。。
There were people asking to see our tickets every kilometer or so. We had purchased a "south side" pass to a museum and some cultural sites for five Bolivianos when we first arrived, and bought a "north side" ticket near a stone sacrificial table for ten. But halfway through our hike, we encountered an odd middle-aged threesome of locals asking us to buy a third ticket. I was pretty sure we had it covered with the north and the south tickets. We asked what the third ticket was for, and a sweatered man told us we needed to pay 15 Bolivianos to pass to the next checkpoint on the trail. The ticket itself was a full color tourist map of the island. It had a number on it, but didn't look like our other tickets - thin paper with a one color national insignia and a price, stamped with the date of purchase. Convinced it was a scam, I told one of the bowler-hatted women that we would be happy to pay at the checkpoint. Our Austrian pal started to walk through but sweater man blocked his path with his body. A fat bowler woman tried to give him a body check wer butt. Unperturbed, he charged trough and the couple relented. After that their legitimacy was in tatters and the rest of us passed easily. The rest of our sun-stroked walk across the island was filled with speculation and doubt. There was no check point, but another family stopped us to sell the same "ticket" / tourist map. We were more confident this time and politely refused to buy it. Our buddy asked to see an ID or a stamp or a certificate. Confused by our refusal, they didn't put up much of a fight as we passed.
まぁ色々あったけど、夕食は再びトーマス＆カレンと一緒に、林を抜けた丘の上にある隠れ家的なこじんまりとしたLas Velas("キャンドル"という意味)というレストランに。そこでは電気は一切使わず代わりにキャンドルで明かりを灯しています。料理はオーガニックの食材を使い何から何まで手作り！地元のハーブを使ったチチカカ湖のトラウトのホイル焼きを頼みましたが本当に手の込んだ料理でとても美味しかったです)^o^( ビールやピザも頼んだのに2人で2000円ちょっとと本当に安い！
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| Mixed pizza with crunchy flavorful crust |
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| Trucha with local herbal sauce |
明りが少ない島からは満天の星そして天の河を眺めることができました(^^)
When we finally reentered town on the south end of the island, we encountered a sign for Las Velas, gourmet organic restaurant. The sign made it stand apart from the three dozen other restaurants and our Austrian friends had read that it was the best restaurant on the island! Seeing as it was my birthday, this seemed like an appropriate choice.
We met up again for dinner. We followed a few signs that led us up to a small building on the top of the ridge. As we approached, we encountered a man driving a few donkeys down the hill. "Are you here for Las Velas? Please head on up - I'll just be a few minutes." He turned out to be a classically trained, multi-lingual gourmet chef just returning from Copacabana with supplies. He gave us a menu with a note asking for our patience. His food would take a long time to prepare, but would be worth the wait. I ordered the fillet mignon and Kaori ordered the trout in a wine sauce with indigenous herbs from the garden. We also split some beers and... (how could we avoid it) a pizza! The food did take about 90 min to prepare and by the time it arrived we were fully immersed in the candlelight and the smells from the wood oven. Man, was it ever worth the wait.. simply amazing food. This place should be on everyone's list for Isla del Sol - I only wish we had found it sooner. (entrees 40-50 Bolivianos ($5.5-8.5), almost the same as the dozens of mediocre places around the island)
The next morning we jumped on a boat for the mainland and a bus for La Paz.
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