Peru and Bolivia 2005, part 6 (Copacabana, Titicaca, Isla del Sol)
I left Peru for Bolivia on a double-decker and there I was super lucky, for I had a seat in the front of the upper deck. In this way I could enjoy a wonderful view at the lake of Titicaca that was to the left of the road we were on.
When we got to the border, it turned out that we had to cross it on foot. First we went to the Peruvian police to have our passports stamped and then we walked to the Bolivian side. Still, regardless of the formalities, one does not have a feeling of a border-crossing, since the whole area is full of women selling local crafts and exchanging money. While in the coach I felt quite warm, since the Sun was shining right on my seat, but outside it was rather fresh. We waited for a little while and then we moved and soon arrived in the town of Copacabana.
The main reason why I wanted to get to Copacabana was that I wanted to spend a night on the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun). This is an island that is on the Bolivian side of Titicaca. Both Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna (Island of the Moon) used to be very important religious sites of the Incas. According to legends, their supreme deity Viracocha was born right from the waters of Titicaca and these islands were of ultimate importance for the Incas. However, even before the Incas came to these areas, the islands contained shrines of other civilizations and their remains can also be seen on the islands today. Well, this was what I intended to visit.
In order to see that, as I naively believed I would manage through an efficient organization of things, I bought a ticket for a boat to the Isla del Sol, as well as a ticket to La Paz for the day after. Since I had some free time, I walked around the town, wrote a couple of emails and then walked down to the shores of Titicaca. If Copacabana were not at such high altitude and if it were not chilly or cold even when the sun is shining, one would think it could be a proper summer resort. I’m sure it is for some, because there are lots of tour boats and paddle boats, but for me it is far too cold to find the water attractive. Titicaca is indeed a very big lake. Its surface area is 8372 km2, the width is 80 km, the length is 190 km and it is at over 3800 m above sea level. As I’ve already mentioned, it is the highest navigable lake in the world.
When the time came, I moved to the boat with my stuff. The boat had two simple engines, so we slowly sailed there for almost 2 hours. As we approached the island it started to dawn on me that the situation was far from a promising one and that I had made a complete error in judgment as to what was realistically feasible. Namely, the island is completely hilly. No flat surfaces to speak of. I was without any hotel reservation, just came there, plus I was completely inappropriately equipped for I had only a large, heavy bag with some wheels. They were supposed to facilitate me when I pulled the bag. And then I made another mistake, since when I had already started to grasp the reality, it was very stupid on my part to get out of the boat at all. Let me clarify, the mini port was of course at the level of water, but other than some minor buildings to be used while waiting for boats and for buying tickets there was nothing else there. What would be called a settlement and accommodation was up the hill and there was a flight of innumerable stairs right from the mini port. In my silly hope that perhaps I might finds some accommodation at the level of the lake after all, I got my bag out, tried to find an easier way to carry it since I could not pull it there and when attempting to do that, it fell down and a wheel broke off. That was the definite end to any desire of mine to stay at the island. Somehow I managed to drag the bag back to the boat and when I caught my breath I did the only thing I could and that was to climb several steps, look around, take some photos and wait for some 15-20 minutes for the boat to leave on its return journey to Copacabana.
Almost the entire island is covered in terraced gardens. Ever since the times of the Incas, different types of crops have been grown here very successfully. Namely, because of the large body of water that gets heated during the day and evaporates at night thus maintaining the temperature higher than on the shore, higher and better quality yields are harvested here than in any other place in this region. In the vicinity there is also the Isla de la Luna, another important holy site in the past, and in the distance I could see the snow covered peaks of Illampu which, with its 6368 m a.s.l., is the fourth highest mountain in Bolivia. Together with Illimani, the highest mountain in Bolivia, 6437 m a.s.l., which is situated east of La Paz, Illampu is the subject of old legends. There are several different versions, but according to one of them Illampu is the Lord of Light and Illimani is the Lord of Water.
The way back was very gloomy for me in terms of my mood. I felt very much alone and lonely, with a strong need to be back at home and with my friends and family, and I kept thinking what had come over me to even wish to come to such a journey. It would have been better if somebody had taken me like a package from one hotel to another, without me having to think at all. I don’t want to go on such a trip and in this way ever again. I want comfort. Boohoo... All in all, the entire trip back was very depressive and I was in a foul mood, plus my nose was stuffy all the time. That’s why I decided to improve things a little when I got back to the firm ground and to give myself a treat. The first thing I did was to take a taxi uphill (for some 300-400 m). Then I chose a slightly better hotel, but there was still no heating there and the water was only tepid.
This seems to be like a good place to say something about a trauma of tourists travelling in Peru and Bolivia on a smaller budget (I suppose the situation is better in case of people who spend a little more money on hotels). This concerns tankless water heaters. Or to be more precise, a combination of a tankless water heater and a shower head, all in one. The situation usually goes like this: a plastic pipe comes out of the wall and at its end there is a biggish shower head. It contains a water heater. What is most interesting, other than the water pouring out very slowly, is the fact that electricity wires are all over the place. Nothing is finely fitted, but rather the wires with some shabby plastic insulation tape go parallel to the plastic water pipe and this leaves an impression of high level of unsafety and a possibility of electric shock. All foreigners are horrified and as soon as they talk for a while longer, one of them is bound to utter with complete incredulity and terror on their face: “And have you seen the shower?” Still, I have to be honest and say that nobody complained of being electrocuted or hearing of such a case, but that certainly did not diminish our collective trepidation.
After settling at the hotel, I went for a short walk and then for a dinner. There is a lot of trout in the lake, but I decided to try some other type of fish, pejerrey in Spanish, that is abundant in Titicaca. It was light and quite tasty.
The disaster with the bag and the wheel that totally ruined my day did happen, nevertheless, at a relatively good place since my plan was to be in La Paz the next evening and it was more than likely that I could buy new baggage there.
The next morning I first went to the hotel’s roof terrace. Although the sky was cloudless and with the bright sun, it was still very cold and as I wrote my travel journal my fingers felt numb. Still, it was not too bad and I actually enjoyed sitting there quietly, especially after taking some medicine. It all did me good and the state of my health started to improve.
As my coach was not leaving until early afternoon, I spent the rest of the morning in Copacabana walking, taking photos, visiting an internet cafe, etc. The Copacabana Cathedral is the most important place of pilgrimage in Bolivia. There is a statue of the Virgin of Copacabana to which numerous miracles have been attributed. The Cathedral itself was originally built between the 16th and the 17th century in the mudejar style, which is a style in architecture and decoration that combines the Spanish and the Moorish styles, but it was extended afterwards. It is interesting that one first enters a spacious fenced yard and only then the church itself which is not entered directly from the street. The space around the Cathedral, that front yard and smaller chapels that are located within it, have been built after the old shrines and it is generally considered that the very cult of the Virgin of Copacabana actually represents a taken over and appropriately altered cult of the goddess of the lake that used to exist here before the arrival of the Spaniards.
During my walk I came across a woman, a tourist, who didn’t feel well, so I gave her a coca candy and a small bottle of water, as a first aid. The first time I tried coca leaves was when I went to the Colca canyon in Peru, but I didn’t like it at all. I really tried and chewed those dried leaves with an expression of utter disgust on my face, and I chewed and chewed, but eventually I had to spit it out. Thus I didn’t get to any effects of coca. But, here at high altitudes there are also other products made with coca and one of them were the candies. Well, they were quite fine for me and their sweetness masked the other taste which I found unpleasant.
While walking around Copacabana, I exchanged some money, but also bought a small hat to prevent my face from getting sunburned. The sunlight is very intense here – not only this area is actually in the tropics, but also the thin air allows the sunrays to burn strongly. Finally I ended up on the hotel’s terrace again where I sat “only” in my jumper and it was quite pleasant now. I felt very well, the problems with my congested nose were fading away and everything seemed better.