Fresh Air and Fine Food...in Bolivia?

Vehicle Blessing at the Cathedral
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***Check for lots of new photos, starting with the "Adios Argentina, Hola Bolivia," which contains the photos from Tupiza and a few from the Southwest Circuit tour, make sure to click on view more pictures"***

The fresh lake air and small town feel of Copacabana was extremely refreshing after a week in La Paz.  We were quite relieved to exchange the smell of diesel and llama fetuses for the sound of waves lapping outside our bedroom window.  Lake Titicaca is so big it looks like the ocean and reminded us a little of home.

Copacabanas Turkish-styled Cathedral
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The highlights of our time in Copacabana included a day trip to Isla del Sol, believed birthplace of the Sun and the Incas.  Eubie, Nat, and I hiked 10 km from one end of the island to the other on a path that was literally straight across the mountains and involved a lot of exertion at 4000 meters above sea level.  On the boat ride there I was reminded of what a ridiculously small world it is when we met two girls from UVic also on their way to Isla del Sol,one of whom I'd had several Spanish classes with in the past couple years.  Eubie and I had a bit of a scare on the island when we decided to leave our bag on the boat rather then carry it across the mountains, and we arrived at the opposite shore to see the boat pulling away with our bag on it.  Long story short, we did get our bag back after a very stressful 2 hour boat trip in pursuit.  Isla del Sol marked the beginning of the Incan portion of our journey as we saw our first ruins here.

Isla del Sol
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We also witnessed a car blessing ceremony at the cathedral which dominates the town.  These ceremonies took place twice a day and it seemed that anyone with a new vehicle or going on a journey would take their car or bus there to have it blessed by the priest. It was quite interesting to see families dressed in there best decorating their cars with gorgeous flowers and decorations and then the priest would sprinkle it with alcohol inside and out, praying for their safe travel.

Another highlight of Copacabana was our culinary experiences in the town, these varied greatly from fabulous to funny.  First of all we were highly impressed with the restaurant La Orilla and on our last day there we arrived early eagerly anticipating a tasty breakfast.  We were sitting on the curb outside waiting for it to open when the owner walked by and informed us that they did not open until 5 pm that day, yet still invited us in and prepared a fabulous huge breakfast for us.  On the other side of things, the previous day we had visited a different restaurant for lunch.  Still not having gained my appetite back after the food poisoning I ordered a plate of nachos with vegetables.  Hmmm.... I wasn't really expecting dorito chips with canned carrots and beans!  Finally, we had a tasty dinner of lake trout at a Lonely Planet reccomended restaurant.  While Eubie and I thouroghly enjoyed the meal I can't say the same for the next 8 people who walked out after finding out that the restaurant had run out of fish, chicken, pasta, water, and wine.  I guess we were lucky that the waiter decided to run across the road to get Eubie the beer he ordered - that's just how things work in Bolivia!

Next stop: Cusco, Peru and Machu Picchu!

Ciao for now,

Sabrina