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Published: March 8th 2014
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*Spoiler alert* No there wasn’t. If you know me, you understand that I can’t get past the Barry Manilow song when I hear Copacabana. Two years ago when I was in Rio de Janeiro, this was my blog
My Name is Lola, I was a Showgirl..... It became the favorite blog title so far. When I planned this trip and found that I was going to be staying in Copacabana again,
D MJ Binkley were keen to find out what my blog title would be. It was a hard call. All I can say is I continue to walk around singing the darn song, but hey, when at the Copa…..
Our tour bus left La Paz at 7:00. Happily I found out that it was my guide Sylvia from the previous tour. Traffic was a bit heavy as we headed up and through El Alto City. Today was the 27th anniversary of the City, so people were off work and getting ready for a parade. Once we left the city, we started to see beautiful snow covered mountains in the distance. I did take some pictures, but getting a good shot from a moving bus is not the easiest thing. After several hours, we stopped at a viewpoint
for some shots of the deep blue Lake Titicaca. As in Peru, the clouds hug the land and surround the lake. I feel as if I am so high up that the clouds are closer to me than they are at home. It is probably silly, but it makes me feel good. There is something special about fluffy, white clouds changing shape and color as they float across the sky. We made a quick stop at the Kon Tiki Museum. To be honest, I couldn’t get a lot out of the museum because it was in Spanish and I haven’t had a reliable internet connection to do some research, but this is what I gleaned. There was a reed boat called Ra 2 that sailed across the ocean, I think from Africa, but again I can’t guarantee this. There have been several expeditions, but the man in charge of the Imara crew (again, this could be spelled wrong) was Bolivian and although he is quite old, he continues to work at the museum. There were newspaper articles and many photos of the boat, the crew, and of course this gentleman. I bought a small reed boat and he offered to
sign the paddle. Once again, this may sound hokey, but it was actually pretty interesting. I also ended up buying an alpaca sweater that I think is beautiful.
After about 4 hours or so we headed down the mountains into Copacabana. The town is quite small, but in the high season is packed with tourists. Today it was fairly empty of tourists, but filled with locals getting ready for a Carnival parade and festival. Apparently in the cities, Carnival just ended, but in the small towns it is just starting. More about that later. First, I want to talk about meeting
taracloud again. She had come in on a shared touristic bus from Puno this morning and was sitting on the patio reading when I arrived. It was as if we had just seen each other last month instead of a full year. Since I knew we were going to meet, I offered to bring some supplies that she was not able to get here in South America. It was like Christmas for her and made me so happy to have been able to help. Travel Bloggers are a special community. I know that it says on the top
of the website that it is the world’s friendliest travel site, but the fact that I have met some incredible people, now friends, and talk with so many online is a true gift.
After Tara and I caught up, we went for lunch in the hotel restaurant. I still wasn’t feeling up to eating much, so had a wonderful chicken and rice soup while Tara had a delicious bacon wrapped chicken breast. I think we both enjoyed sitting and talking almost as much as the food. After lunch I went back to my room to savor the incredible view, hum some more Barry Manilow and rest. By now, however, I was pretty done with that song. I didn’t care about Rico and his diamond, I didn’t care that Tony always tended bar, but it was implanted in my head and I couldn’t get it out no matter what I tried. And honestly, aren’t you humming or singing it right now? I would wager that you are.
Sylvia met me in the lobby and we went for a quick walk around the town. As you can see from the pictures, it is a dusty, gritty town hugging Lake Titicaca.
I mentioned earlier that many of the residents were out getting ready to Carnival. We stood in the shade and watched bands play and people in beautiful, elaborate outfits dance. It was something special to watch. As I said, there weren’t that many tourists in town, so I felt as if I was getting to see something that not everyone has a chance to see. I will post some pictures of the bands and dancers. After watching that for a while, we visited the Basilica and saw where the blessing of the cars takes place. All in all it was a very fun afternoon. As we walked back to the hotel I could still hear the bands playing. Mr. Altitude seems to be getting bored with me, so I am feeling much better. I told you I was going to kick his butt back to the ozone. After a light dinner, I went back to my room to pack a few things for an overnight tour to Sun Island. More to come on that in the next blog.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Hey Santa Claus!
Brendan, it was so good to see you again--really, it doesn't feel like a year. And wow--such goodies you brought--it was a fab Christmas in March. My old computer died the morning you brought my new one--just in the nick of time! So glad you got to see the Aymara dancers in town and are feeling better. Have fun walking across the Isla del Sol!