copacabana

Okay, back to Bolivia. It is around 6 am:

We arrived at the bus terminal in La Paz and continued directly on with a different bus to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca! One of the highest navigable lakes in the world, and the largest lake (by volume) in South America. (source: wikipedia)

In order to get to Copacabana we had to cross the narrow strait of Tiquina. Everyone had to get off and take a boat across.

Our bus went across on one of these ferries.

This poor sheep rode on the roof of the bus for 4 hours.

 

We had already picked out of my guidebook which hotel we wanted to stay at, “El Mirador”, because we wanted a view of the lake, but once we saw it, we started to have doubts about whether we could afford it:

However it turned out to only cost 5 Euros per person per night. We even had a private bath and there was a terrace right outside. (The shower turned out to be a catastrophe though, it flooded the whole bathroom.)

We had fried trout from the lake for lunch and that night we watched the sun set over Lake Titicaca.

The famous Titicaca lake trout have an interesting story, turns out they were native to the American great lakes and introduced in various south American lakes. Meanwhile, they have become extinct in the American lakes due to the introduction of the lamprey…and in Lake Titicaca, they probably contributed to the extinction of the Orestia, which was native to and only present in Lake Titicaca.  

My throat felt weird, by the next day I had lost my voice and didn’t feel so good. We took a boat to the Isla del Sol, an island on the lake. The island was revered by the Incas as the birthplace of Incan civilization/the sun…or something like that. There was zero information about anything there, so that’s about all I can tell you. There are lots of Incan ruins on the island, including a labyrinth, a temple, and a sacrificial table. It’s a 4 hour walk from the north end of the island to the south end, where the return boat leaves. It’s tough, the sun is out and the path is steep at times, we are panting at every little incline. But it is amazing.

Along the way we have to pay several times; each community apparently levies its own fines. There are people along the way sitting by the path, selling drinks, handicrafts. Also there are kids asking if we want to take pictures of them with their sheep, llamas or donkeys. There was one woman with her kid and a llama. We walked by and the llama was not looking too happy…then it spat on the guy walking behind us!

Incan staircase

There was a little girl who asked me to take a picture of her and her little sister…I thought aw, that’s cute…but then after the picture the older one said “Now pay us! One boliviano for me and one for her!” In retrospect, I can’t believe I fell for it…
I was like, “Wow, you drive a hard bargain. Would you prefer 2 bolivianos or 1 boliviano and the rest of our chocolate to share between the two of you?” They ended up going for the chocolate bar.

In Copacabana, there is a large church (pretty large for such a small town) and pilgrims come from all over to visit the Virgen of Copacabana, who is a big deal: "Our Lady of Copacabana" is the patron saint of Bolivia and known for working several miracles. And I just found out online that Copacabana beach in Rio is actually named after her, too. On the weekends, they bless cars in front of the church, with garlands of flowers and stuff.

The rest of the photos are here: http://chile.marahtyler.com/#25.0