At the Copa... Copacabana

Having crossed into Bolivia, I stopped at the small town of Copacabana, very close to the border and right on the edge of Lake Titicaca. The lake was even more beautiful from this side: a serene and mesmerising sight, with deep blue water shimmering in the sunlight. 

When looking for somewhere to stay, I'd read in the Lonely Planet that it was worth “splurging” on Las Olas hostel. This “splurge” would cost $30/night for what was essentially my own individually-designed hut, complete with bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and private garden with hammocks, overlooking Lake Titicaca. Since I’d already spent more than $30 on a couple of crap hostels, it didn’t take much to convince me!

I suppose this is an appropriate moment to confess that I haven’t been fully embracing the backpacker experience. Although I’m staying in hostels, I’ve been booking private rooms (usually with a private bathroom too!). I love sleep and can get very cranky when it’s interrupted. I also like having my own space. So I haven’t quite been able to bring myself to stay in a dorm again after so many years. (Sadly this will probably have to change when I get to Argentina and Chile as the cost of a private, single room in hostels there seems to be about 3-4 times more than in Bolivia and Ecuador! Sigh.)

Anyway, it just so happened that on my second day in Copacabana, there was a Census in Bolivia, and the entire country shut down while people were - physically - counted. Public transport ground to a halt, shops and tour operators were closed and tourists were instructed to stay in their hotels all day! So I really couldn’t have picked a better moment to "splurge"!

I spent the day lying in a hammock overlooking the lake and reading my book. In the evening, when the temperature plummeted, I curled up in front of my own log fire... bliss! I must admit that staying in such a special place did make me wish I had a handsome young gentleman to enjoy it with... or alternatively a good friend and a couple of bottles of red! But I had to make do with a cup of tea and my book instead! :)

The view from my window

The next day I took a boat out to one of the Lake Titicaca Islands on the Bolivia side: Isla del Sol. In Inca mythology, this was the birthplace of the sun, and also where the Sun God created the first Inca man and woman.

The lake was calm and it was a beautiful sunny day. Arriving at the North part of the island, it took around 45-minutes to walk to the “Chincana” ruins, which is where all the legendary Inca creation stuff happened. From there, it took around 3 hours to hike the length of the island, down to the South, where I caught a boat back to the mainland. The island was very tranquil and beautiful and it was a nice day out. 

View from the trail

Chincana Ruins

On my final morning in Copacabana, I was lucky enough to pass by the cathedral just at the right time to see an unexpected “Blessing of Automobiles” (it's usually only at weekends). Three families had brought their cars to be blessed and the cars were lined up with their bonnets open, covered in flowers and ribbons. The padre came out of the cathedral, spoke with the families for a little while, blessed them, blessed the car engine, and then walked around the car, sprinkling it with holy water. After he’d finished, the families popped bottles of champagne and ran around the car spraying it with champagne and then throwing rose petals over it! I've never seen anything like that before!

Padre blesses automobile

Before the padre arrived, I'd started chatting to an American lady who had set up a really impressive-looking vintage camera (with bellows!) to photograph the ceremony. She was an Art Photographer, working on a book about different religious offerings and blessings around the world. The impressive thing was, she was 69 years old and travelling completely alone to Bolivia, Brazil, India, Nepal, Burma and the Middle East and going to some quite off-the-beaten-track places within these countries, to photograph these different ceremonies. What an inspiration! I hope I still have it in me to do something like that at her age!