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Published: October 26th 2006
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Copacabana
A great place to simply relax Well our bus from Uyuni to La Paz turned out to be a bit of a disaster. When we arrived at the bus stop there was two different buses and many confused people. After specifically asking the tour agency for cama tickets we were disappointed to find we had been booked onto the normal bus which did not even have enough space to accomodate Andrews legs. Lucky for us we managed to help ourselves to two more seats so the bus trip would be bearable. The rest of the trip was 12hours on mostly bumby, unpaved roads...again.
La Paz is a bustling, noisey, polluted city that seems to move non-stop. Every driver seems to think that beeping their horn will get them to their destination faster and everywhere you walk there are people yelling out of buses and vans trying to coax you into a ride. The city was simply too much for the two of us and we ended up not really giving La Paz a chance as we left the next day.
We were off to the lake side town of Copacabana. The glistening blue lake of Titicaca was certainly a welcome sight. As luck would have
La Paz
The city sits in a valley but is spreading in every direction, the shanty town on the cliff tops above are now considered to be South Americas fastest growing city it the first hostal we looked at turned out to be perfect and was infact a two star hotel with views of the lake.
Copacabana with a population of just over 50,000 was nice and small and contained everything we needed to keep us happy. The waterfront area was beautiful with sandy beaches, blue water and the rolling green hills. On the water front you could hire bicycles, motor bikes, kayaks and peddle boats. Unfortunately for me the town was trout crazy and they seemed to include it with everything, even pizza, but with plenty else to eat, I cant complain.
On our first day we decided to head up on to the top of Cerro Calvario. A hill top (3966m) where Bolivians come to have their prayers heard. At the top of the hill there are stalls selling miniture cars, houses and money that they bless at the top of the sacred hill in the hope that soon they will receive the real thing. Andrew was invited to join in one of the ritual blessings and ceremonial drinking of a family. The view from the top was amazing and we ended up staying up there for some
Noise everywhere
You couldn´t escape the yelling from vans and buses. This guy is yelling out the destination and price all the way down the road time taking it all in.
One of the major tourist attractions of Copacobana is the Isla del Sol. An island that is about an hour away by boat and as legend would have it is the birth place of the sun and it is also the place where the first Inca came from. We decided to follow the advice of the trusty lonely planet (seriously every single English speaking tourist carries "South America on a Shoestring" with them, some have even reverted to calling it the "LP") and walk 17km of the way there and then take a boat further around the penisular. The walk was a good excuse for exercise (something we´re both missing over here) and Machu Picchu practice and was through some beautiful scenery. The walk was tough with us carrying backpacks for a night on the island and tackling the walk at altitude. We actually cut the walk short accepting the first boat ride to the Isla del Sol we were offered. We were delighted to take a reed boat out to the motor boat, as reed boats are the traditional water vessels that were once the only means of transport available for navigating the
Trucha farm
They love trout in Copacabana. We passed this farm on our way to Isla del Sol lake. When we arrived at the island we checked out some Inca ruins and then missioned our way up to the top to find a hostal for the night. Once we found a room Andrew realised his dodgy lung was at it again and the walk was a bit much. We have now come to the conclusion that the lung wont hold up on the Machu Picchu trek, so I´ll have to go it alone (with the rest of the tour group ofcourse) which is a real shame. We didnt end up seeing the other side of the island as we high tailed out of there the next morning so that Andrew could rest his lung in the comfort of the hotel.
All in all Copacabana has been one of the highlights of the trip (but hasnt there been so many?), but after six days, its now off to Peru, Arequipa in the south west to be precise.
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