Copacabana and Isle del Sol

Arriving in a new country isn't official until a flag sticker is applied. There, official now!

Copacabana welcomes more tourists from La Paz at the weekends, the main square was bus central. Parking spaces are scarce. It is as well the town has little traffic, otherwise it would be a cacophony of  horns.

There are a few interesting buildings in town, the most remarkable is the church which is quite grand for such a small town. Unlike many churches in Peru this one has been meticulously maintained, paint was being applied to the wall on the day I visited. The doors were intricately carved. Tomorrow will tell whether it used anymore diligently. Pleasant shop lined streets led down to the lake.

For a landlocked country (from the late 1800's anyway) it was surprising to find a Bolivian Naval Station. I am hard pressed to understand what they do, perhaps the navy is simply related to national pride. After a tough day in the office taxing myself on the navy question a chilled beer was called for, Bolivian of course.

A video sweep of the bay. (A small raw video clip is all that the WiFi can swallow here!)

A pasta dinner on the main tourist street, which was decent, preceded by a nice evening moonscape.

The Isle del Sol, an island north of Copacabana, did not seem likely to live up to the name. My ticket was for the 8.30am sailing, it had been storming all night and I awoke to heavy rain and hailstones coming down.

It had not brightened by the time of departure, the lake was running a 3-4ft swell, the rain continued and briefly turned to snow. The Bolivian tour guide seated next to me proclaimed that in his 20 years of coming to Lake Titicaca it had never rained, let alone snowed and the water should be like a sheet of glass. So much for that.

The poor man with his boot on the tiller was not equipped with the best foul weather gear I have ever seen.

The wretched start to the day was over with by the time we reached Isle del Sol. The island revealed it's secrets under a partly sunny sky. The ceremonial alters, the 'Fuente de Inca' - a water source and the Pilkokaina Palace, all  surrounded by the breathtaking lake.

Isle del Sol is paired with Isle de la Luna, seen through one of the portals in the Palace.

Not of the grandeur of Pisac, but Pisac didn't have these views. The Inca terraces are still used in places, an excellent crop of broad beans (fava beans for Americans) just below my table. All I really wanted for lunch was a plate of those, freshly picked, boiled and slathered in butter, salt and pepper. Heaven would have been complete. Not on the menu, so instead I had a chicken sandwich.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of another black burro, separated at birth? I think not.

Back to the harbor for return where I spotted a couple of traditional reed boats tied up and behind them in the distance the snow covered Bolivian Andes,

Finally a couple of people photos taken during the day. The first of a very young local girl who after taking the photo put her head in her lap and told me not too. I was going to delete it until I met her mother a little way up the path who asked if I wanted a photo, for a fee of course, so I kept the girl's photo figuring I wasn't taking too much of her soul. 

The older, not so local threesome, hail from the UK. Recent grads not liking the work scene so they quit jobs to travel for 4 months. Good for them. We bumped into each other during the course of the day. The father of the  girl at right is an avid motorcyclist apparently. They were more willing photo subjects than the local, no fee asked or paid! 

Onward to La Paz.

T2