Monday

COPACABANA



Felt a bit of a shame to leave our home from home at Arthys in La Paz..but time to move on. Treated oursleves to a tour to take us from La Paz and onto Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Only 3 hours from the capital and we passed a number of pilgrims who were taking the hard route to Copacabana and were walking the 168km instead - in order to arrive there for Good Friday. They either had a lot to feel guilty about or else halos to keep on shining - as its a long road!

At one point we had to cross a small section of the lake (only 0.5km) - with us in one very teeny tiny boat and the bus on a large barge. We also passed the base of the Bolivian navy - who have not had access to the sea since 1888 - so have had to make do with using the lake instead.

Copacabana is a picturesque small town on the lake front - geared up for tourists - but the lack of cars was a great respite from the manic La Paz. Although only there for a day, we packed in as much as we could and also headed off to the Isle del Sol which is an hour and a half away in another teeny tiny boat! The island was an important centre for the Inkas and as such you could clearly see the terraces that were built and the remains of several temple buildings.

The market in Copacabana was great for wandering around and we brought another blanket (our excuse to use up our bolivianos!). Again, the food stalls were selling all sorts of fruit and veg - including some of the x 400 varieties of potatoes that are grown here - plus this time some fresh lake titicaca trout. It was also here that Tony had his first llama steaks - v tasty!

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