Copa Cabana & Lake Titicaca, Bolivia5 Nov 2008
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Copacabana from the pier
The gorgeous Moorish-influenced cathedral
Tim lights a candle
Ravi --
Like the Tatras Mountains in Eastern Europe, where we explored both the Polish and Slovakian sides, we explored the Peruvian and Bolivian sides of Lake Titicaca.
Copacabana, a sleepy small town on the Bolivian coast of Lake Titicaca, became our first stop in Bolivia, a country with a wealth of natural beauty, but the poorest country in S America.
We start our time in Bolivia with a political mess. Apparently, only Americans need to pay an entry visa charge of $135, thanks to Evo Morales annoyed with our State Department meddling in the internal affairs of Bolivia. That was not an expected budget item, and we didn´t even learn about it until two days before we arrived!
But oh well, we paid the extortion fee, as Tim calls it, and made our way into Bolivia.
Copacabana has a gorgeous Moorish-influenced cathedral which we explored, but offered little more besides a way to get onto the Lake.
Most of our time in the region was spent in Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), where the Inca believed that man was created.
A quick boat ride took us there, and I spent the afternoon exploring the island, going from village to village along the coast, afforded with gorgeous views from the central mountains and a beach abutting one of the villages. I did get very lost, however, going back and forth along the terraced hills trying to find my way back to the main village where we spent the night. Eventually made it, though!
We returned by boat the next morning to Copacabana, and then headed on a bus a few hours to La Paz.
