Following the Dream

Christian March 28th, 2008

We were in La Paz stuck with a dilemma. It was Wednesday and we were told that it was going to be impossible to find accommodation in Copacabana during the holy week. Apparently thousands of Bolivians flock to Lake Titicaca to ask for repentance each year during holy week. Do we fly to Rurrenabaque and explore the Amazon for a three day tour and come back after holy week to Copacabana, or do we book an expensive tour to Copacabana that would drop us off on the Peruvian side of the lake? After talking to the tour agent about the rainforest, we realized we had one option, to take the tour of Copacabana during holy week since the planes to the rainforest were sold out. We booked our tour to Copacabana with Zig Zag tours in La Paz. It was very nice, our guide Jose met us at our hostel early in the morning before boarding a tourist bus to Copacabana.

The bus ride to Copacabana lasted three hours. On part of the ride, we had to get off the bus and get boated across part of the lake, while our bus was put on a separate boat. It was then that we realized that we were going to have Jose as our own personal tour guide. As we continued on our way to Copacabana, we were on roads that overlooked the lake. It was beautiful, with the Andes mountains as a backdrop. We arrived in Copacabana and went to the Utama hotel for lunch. We dropped off our bags and headed out to explore the lakeside town. We made our way to the church in the main square. It was very interesting. Our guide then took us in a room that was like a cave filled with candles. Families come here to light candles, if they fall over or go out before the end of the candle, it is bad luck. We then boarded a very tiny boat to make the hour trip to the Isla del Sol or Island of the Sun. Our bags were taken on a separate boat, so that they could be taken by mule to the hotel.

The water was very clear on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. We arrived at the Inca Ruins where the Inca was believed to live and also where the Sun God was born. It was cool to walk inside the ruins, Casey even sat on the throne. We then continued along a trail that led us past farming terraces dating from Inca time that are still used today by the indigenous people living on the island. After a tiring hike, we made it to the hotel, Inti Kala. It was worth the effort. The views from the hotel were great. We relaxed at the hotel for the night, having dinner and enjoying the view. Then we even got to enjoy an ice cold shower! (okay that might not have been a highlight). The following day we had to wake up early so that we could make it back to Copacabana to climb the Cerro Calvario. On the way to the boat, we were able to see the Inca Fountain. This had three holes that water came out. Each of these represented an Incan Commandments (Don’t Lie, Don’t Steal, and Always Work). They would climb the Inca Stairs to the fountain and would drink from it. If they betrayed the Commandments, the legend says that they would die after drinking from the fountain. After climbing down the Inca Stairs with our huge packs, we made it to the boat. We were greeted by the captain of this dingy bailing out water. On the way back we thought we might sink. The lake was very rough, and in a boat the size of a 8 foot john boat in it, was not the best. We would sway so far over, at times we thought “Oh no this is when we capsize”. But we did make it to Copacabana safe.

We headed for the Cerro Calvario. It was packed due to holy week. This is a very tall hill at one side of town. It is here that the pilgrims flock by the hundreds to climb it and placing stones at the stations of the cross on their way up. It was very crowded on the way up, and hot. It was a great view though. We stayed up for a bit and then made our way down. On the way down we got to witness a drunk guy tumble down a hill. It was hilarious, since he was okay. After that it was free time where we walked around town. Our guide Jose was great the entire time. He helped us on our minivan headed towards the Peru border.

We stopped at the Bolivian limit, got our exit stamp, and then walked into Peru, where we got our entry stamp. Since we were an hour late, there was no bus for us. We randomly got thrown on a bus on the Peru side heading for Puno. That was an experience. Our bus driver would not stop for anything, he just would lay on his horn and keep going. Luckily, we did make it there fine, but did little sightseeing. We booked our bus to Arequipa, where we will see the Colca Canyon.

 Jose — If you read this…. I agree that Bolivia is the Titi and Peru is the Caca

• Bolivia
• Comments(0)