Bolivia

Our room in Copacabana. We were not sure if it was fashioned after a royal room or a bordello until we tried the bed which was totally worn out and decided it must have been the latter.


View from the hill of the Virgen de Copacabana


Sacred rock on Isla del Sol used by pre-inca civilisation for animal sacrifice.


View of Isla del Sol and Lake Titicaca from the three hour walk along the length of the island.

We found a lovely little town at Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. To get there from Ariquipa we journeyed during the day which was a much needed break from the overnight bus trips. We used just about every type of road transport that day starting with a taxi to the Terrapuerte (their fancy word for a bus station), long distance bus with toilet to Puno, Colectivo (ie Toyota Hi-Ace packed with 20 people) to the border town of Yunguyo, Pedal taxi to the actual border, on foot across no-man´s land between the Peru and Bolivian immigration offices, then finally another taxi to Copacabana.

There was much action in Copacabana on our first day associated with a religious holiday and there were many people playing around with boats and having pilgrimages up the hill that overlooks the town. It appears that there is a special version of the Virgin Mary called the Virgen de Copacabana and on this day the priests at the local cathedral bless cars and trucks in the morning which are highly decorated with flowers and whatever. Then they wander up the hill with toy cars and fake money to little shrines and make offerings to the Virgen de Copacabana. And most importantly, they buy heaps of beer and get totally sloshed up there as well. It appears to be a bit of a mix of Catholicism and Indigenous worship.

The Island of the Sun is nearby and one of the Inca legends has it that the Inca people originated from there. The boat trip over was painfully slow. We had a boat of 70-80 people being pushed by a 75hp outboard! All the windows were fixed in place so there would have been no hope of escape if the thing had capsized, it would have been time to ask a favour of the Virgen de Copacabana if that happened. Two excruciating hours later we finally arrived at the Northern end and had a look around at the archaeological sites before a three hour walk the length of the Island. It was very scenic but I am still feeling the altitude up the hills. Cheryl is fine though.

We finished in a lovely village at the South which would have been a good place for an overnight stay.

Of course travelling here is not without its challenges, it rained every night and morning and was freezing when wet. The hotel´s hot water seemed to have trouble finding its way up to our room and I think we only managed one hot shower in three days, so we were definitely on the nose by the time we arrived back in Cusco last night.