The coast of Bolivia - well sort of....

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¨We´re in Copa...Copacabana¨

We left Puno after getting some sleep amongst the fireworks and festivities of the night before and arrived in Copacabana, Bolivia, on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca. We opted for the tourism bus that took us all the way through the border instead of the normal transfers that are usually made between countries. Of course as American´s we received very special attention upon arriving to the immigration office in Bolivia - as we were shuttled quickly into the back office for our visas. The US charges Bolivian's $100 USD to enter the US - so just recently they started reciprocating the policy. Fair enough, and despite a new policy and people reporting trouble, the transaction was quick, efficient and organized. $100, copies of passports, copies of yellow fever vacinations and a completed application gets you in - the process took less than 5 minutes and we were not the last one back on the bus.

On we go.....

We decided to stay at a highly recommended hotel in Copacabana - Hotel La Cupula which had great views and comfy hammocks to lay in. We opted to explore instead of relax the day away. Sunday is usually a busy market day, but this day was more festivals and plenty of drinking. In fact many of the dances were around crates of beer stacked high. we think it was still part of the Fiesta de la Virgen de Candelaria which honors the parton saint of Copacabana and all of Bolivia, but we´re not entirely sure.

The dress of this festival was a bit more ornate than we saw in Puno. We were amazed at the amount of clothing worn in what was, for us, stifling heat. I (Dave) would have passed out immediately no matter how much beer was given to me. (Kevyn was ready to don some shiny duds and join the dancing AND drinking!!) Most of the festivities were around the main square and the dancers were more staionary than Puno (remember the stacks of beer). Around the plaza we also found the unique blessing of the cars, or ¨Benedicion de Movilidades¨. Usually in the morning cars line up in front of the cathedraland thier owners purchase all sorts of amazing flowers, real and plastic. They decorate their vehicles and a pastor comes by with a blessing and a ritual offering of alcohol in hopes of safe journeys. Most of the cars and buses around town were adorned with varying levels of flowers, a sort of cheap insurance.

After leaving the festival scene, we explored the remainder of town and found it to be nice, if not a bit 'westernized' in the tourism department. We made our arrangements to cross over to the Isla del Sol the following morning.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the beach front and fighting off the urge to take the swan-shaped paddle boats out along the shore of the lake - Bolivia's only beach front property. For some reason we also decided hiking straight up the hill that overlooked town was a good idea. Enroute we passed the 14 Stations of the Cross that were put up along the way comemerating different families. The top left us breathless and wondering why exactly we climbed up the hill. The views of the lake and town below were worth it and it reminded us of how thin the air actually is.

That night was spent at the hotel restaurant where we had an incredible meal of trout (the main fare of the region...it was introduced to Lake Titicaca in the 1930´s and is now commercially farmed there) and a tasty lentil dish. A guy (from Amsterdam) who we first met in Arequipe joined us as well as another gentleman from London. We swapped travel stories and shared some vinto tinto (red wine) and had a fun time.

Off to sleep...cuz´we´re heading out to Isla del Sol tomorrow!

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Photos

Copacabana
The view from our hotel

Revelers in the streets
Can you tell they are all dancing around crates of beer? What a grand idea!!!

Benedicion de Movilidades
Blessing of the Automobiles

The town from above
You can still the festival is still filling the streets

Fourteen Crosses
well, some of them anyway

Comments

[Dad]

Jealous
Last year your blog made me want to travel...this year I am just jealous. How many festivals have you stumbled into?

[K & B Show]

Oh for fun!
Looks like a great time!! Just a warm up for Austin, I suppose....hehehe

[ash]

que loco!
they're totally justified, but wow, i can't believe they're now charging $100 for the visa. that's incredible...i paid nothing when i was there. brazil was the only other country that did that. i wonder if the other ones will soon catch on? man oh man.

[Elizabeth]

At the...
I can hear Kevyn singing the Copacobana song! This is too fun traveling along with you two as I listen to the rain (yes RAIN!) on the yurt roof. At the ...Alaska...Alaska Banana...belt that is. MISS YOU! Elizabeth