Lake Titicaca, Copacabana & Isla del Sol: This is another long one! (Dec 6th)

The next morning marked the first of the trip on which we overslept. At 6:30am, the front desk called our room to tell us that our tour director had been sitting in the lobby waiting for us for 5 minutes. I literally leapt from the bed, brushed my teeth, threw water on my face, and was packed in 5 minutes, even (and unusually) faster than James. He sleepily said that he'd never seen anyone move so fast.

A few minutes later we had checked out, apologized to the tour guide and the one other tourist in the van, and were headed to Copacabana. After two hours we made a quick stop in a small town for a bathroom break and a stop into a local shop, where James and I made the owner very happy by spending quite a few of our last soles compiling a breakfast of yogurt, chocolate wafers, Oreos, and plantain chips. (We vowed to eat more healthily going forward, but you work with what you've got.)

Shortly thereafter we arrived at the border, changed the rest of our money into Bolivianos, and presented our documents to the necessary officials. I was quite glad of my advance preparations as I saw the icy stares received by our other tour group reminder who simply shoved her passport under the nose of the official with none of the required paperwork and yelled, "American." We waited while she was directed to a place where she could withdraw money and make photocopies, and then finally, with visas and passports in hand, we walked across the border to Bolivia.

On the Bolivian side, another bus waited for us with our bags onboard, and we were soon transported to Copacabana. Once there, our Peruvian guide introduced us to our Bolivian guide, Renan, and we started the day inside of the beautifully painted Basilica.


That and a sampling of gigantic, brown-sugar sprinkled Bolivia popcorn were all we experienced of Copacabana before being whisked onto our Catamaran.


Immediately upon boarding, we were treated to a mid-morning snack of sandwiches and fresh fruit-- much-appreciated since we had slept through breakfast. We practically had the boat to ourselves, which greatly added to our enjoyment of it and the tour in general.

That being said, one of the only four other people on our boat had seventy years on her and bad knees to boot, so she almost fainted at the sight of about 200 stairs when we reached the dock at Isla del Sol. But Renan and James, like the gentlemen they are, assisted her up the whole way.


While they were doing that, I raced ahead and hung out with the other three girls in our tour who were from Santa Cruz, Bolivia.


Halfway up the island, our tour agency rents a parcel of land maintained by the locals, on which they grow and study a number of native Bolivian crops, including many grains.


They also have a llama paddock...


... which housed the craziest, furriest, buck-toothed llama ever!


Higher up, they have an exhibit of the boats primarily used by the natives of Lake Titicaca...


... as well as a couch made of the same materials, which James rather enjoyed.


A private museum also stood nearby, housing Incan pottery, statues...


... and mummies.


Atop the mountain, we had a fantastic view of the lake and the rest of the island.


And there we witnessed a traditional ceremony by a shaman and were each blessed by him in turn.


We then proceeded back down the mountain.


But rather than reboard the catamaran, we were first treated to a ride aboard the same sort of sailing vessel which transported the Bolivians ancestors across the Pacific and into Polynesia (according to a theory).


Onboard, James tried his hand at rowing and yet again threw sartorial caution to the wind, modeling the traditional garb.


The weather was ideal, the sky cerulean, and all in all, I couldn't imagine a better way to spend an afternoon.


(But god, we were cheese balls.)


Finally, we switched back onto the catamaran for a splendid lunch with the lake shimmering just outside of the windows.


Back in the van an hour later, we got one last glimpse of Copacabana...


... before driving onto a barge to cross another section of the lake. (That's the barge beside ours.


Once back on land, we proceeded to La Paz, but not before a tornado crossed our paths. I had never seen one before and was fascinated. But as we drove closer and closer, I did ask at what point one stopped driving toward a tornado. As though in answer, it dissipated moments later.


Finally, late that evening, we checked into Loki La Paz and ran immediately into Keshia and Rachel in the bar, having had no idea that they were even staying there. After several drinks and a number of the girls' raucous stories that I can't print here, we headed back to the room and fell asleep. All in all, one of the best days of the trip so far.

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Location:Loayza,La Paz,Bolivia