Copacabana

  Copacabana, Bolivia
Thursday, November 13, 2008

Before our departure to Bolivia ,we received a phone call from the bus company. Because of the strikes, we need to leave at 2.30 am instead of 7.30!..We arrived in the middle of the night. You could see the joyful faces of the people in the bus!!It was freezing, so they gave us quilts.We stopped at the border for a couple of hours waiting for it to open. It went quite smoothly.We were lucky because some people tried to cross the border during the 48hours strike and they were thrown stones at, braking the windows of the bus. We arrived in Copacabana early in the morning,on the Bolivian side of the lake Titicaca. It looks much  better than Puno. It is to the people from Lapaz what Deauville is to the Parisians.Fortunately we can check in early and have a good rest.

Blessing the bonnet

In the afternoon, we have a stroll in town and go the cathedral.Copacabana´s Virgin Mary is really worshipped in Bolivia. In the grotto where the statue is, you can see words written on the walls in wax. Outside the cathedral , there were  a few cars covered in flowers (on the bonnet, the mirrors...) with families gathering around it. The priest arrives and starts to bless all the new cars for safe driving (Clodagh, I think you should discuss this with Kevey Wavey for the winter campaign!).The priest blesses the engine, the boot, the seats, the family. The family takes loads of pictures and throw petals everywhere. Finally, after  a few fire works, they shook big bottles of beer and spray them on the tyres as if they won the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix. That was quite unbelievable. That night we found fondue savoyarde...Mmmh

The following morning (14.11),we headed to the harbour to grab a boat to Isla del Sol, where the Inca god of the Sun was born. On the boat,we met Alan  and Michael (UK) and Cathy and  Elisabeth (Canada). We stayed together the whole day.We had a guide for the northern part of the island. He showed us the different ruins,the table of sacrifices (still used to date but with lamas),the labyrinth, temple of the sun, plants used in medicine, etc. Cathy was doing the translation for us as she has been living in Bolivia for the past year. He was trying to show us that some parts of the island looked like a condor or a whale(like Cuzco looking like a puma). There again,we thought they chewed too much coca leaves. He left us to take three hour walk to the sou nth of the island.Except walking up hills at nearly 4000m is not always super easy.The view was spectacular. The three communities  ripping us off was also spectacular.You pay a fee for the community of the north,the middle and the south when you pass by. Like a cheap M50 toll bridge.

Isla del sol

Walking was tough sometimes. Alan was a heavy smoker and still 20mn ahead of me!Unfair! A little girl wanted to sell us stuff on the way ,I refused and passed by.She saw I was exhausted and came back running to me  with one of the plants the guide has showed us in the morning.You rub the plant and smell it. It is quite strong and smells a bit like eucalyptus and it really does open your lungs.Finally arrived to destination and it was nearly time to go back on the boat. We all went out that night for dinner and for a lot of drinks.The altitude helping,we were all very tipsy pretty quickly.We had a great night.Good laugh. We closed the bar. It was extremely tough to go up the hill back to the hotel...A real challenge.

labirynth

The next day was eventless. Everyone was hungover, resting and reading in the sun. Not productive at all. We all watched a couple of movies at night in the common room.