Sloth Journeys

So I reckon most people have heard of Copacabana. But probably not the one we went to!!

So, like the famous one in Brazil, ours is also in South America. It also even has a beach. However, I suspect that is where the comparison ends!

‘Our’ Copacabana, represented the start of the Bolivian leg of our adventure, being located a mere 20 minutes or so across the border from Peru.

The border crossing was pretty quick and easy, certainly eased by the fact that we took the slight ‘cop out’ option of paying a bit more to use a company called Peru Hop, which provides a hop on hop off service for tourists around the key destinations of Peru and as far as La Paz in Bolivia. Having thoroughly winged it across the Ecuador-Peru border and being somewhat tired after a few months of travel we decided to splash the cash for a bus service that has a guide to walk you through the border process!

After being swiftly stamped into Bolivia with no questions whatsoever (unlike getting into Peru) we arrived into Copacabana, also on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The plan was to spend a night in this fairly sleepy little town and get a boat to hike and spend the night on Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), which we’d read was beautiful, before heading on to the big lights of La Paz.

I’m not quite sure what we were expecting from Copacabana, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t this! (Admin – isn’t that the story of this whole trip?!)

Pedalo, zorbing or banana boat (or indeed weird octopus inflatable thing anyone)? I didn’t realise we were going to Benidorm at 3,800m! Actually, that’s probably where any comparison ends, but it was quite funny to see it all as we walked down to the beach!

Other than that, it did just seem like a fairly sleepy town with a bit of a market and several tourist trinket shops and eateries. However, it had a relaxed vibe and was pleasant enough for a night’s stay.

The next morning we headed back down to the front to catch a boat to the north of Isla del Sol, from where we would hike around 7.5 miles to the south of the island to our hostel for the night. Apparently the walk was well signposted so even idiots like us couldn’t mess it up!

Getting off the boat we were immediately confused as there were literally no signs pointing the way!! So, what did we do to solve this puzzle? Obviously we went and found coffee!!

Having solved the problem with caffeine, we looked at the route I’d sensibly downloaded off Wikiloc and blindly followed that! Thankfully it turned out to be right and the path, despite not being signposted at any point along the entire way, was easy to follow once on it!

It was a cloudless day but thankfully there was a bit of a breeze to cool us and beautiful views across the lake and to the mountains beyond along the whole route.

Finally arriving tired and hot at the south end of the island, we checked into our hostel, and landed on our feet with a lovely room which had a beautiful view of the lake on three sides.

After a bit of a rest, we headed out in search of some dinner. For a small island, the south was said to have a plethora of eateries…. However, today turned out to be Agrarian Reform Day in Bolivia, which celebrates an Act to hand back land to the people. We’d heard (and seen in the distance) parades going on in the small villages dotted along the island. What it also turned out to mean was that all the restaurants were closed, presumably as everyone was attending the festivities! We were beginning to lose hope of finding anywhere to fill our bellies and were just beginning to contemplate whether a snickers and a few nuts would be enough for dinner, when we finally happened up one place open. I reckon the owners probably hadn’t had as bumper an evening for a very long time, given that pretty much every tourist staying on the island for the night must have ended up there (yes, some people did have to hang around in the cold (and it was bloomin’ cold that night!) waiting for tables to come free). Thankfully the food was alright and the view of the sunset was even better, so all was well in the end!

After satisfying our stomachs, we stumbled back to our hostel in the pitch black and spent a few minutes enjoying looking at the stars, which is smoothing we rarely get to see in Manchester, before I getting up early to see the sunrise (well I did, Richard didn’t seem so keen for some reason to have yet another 5am start), before getting a morning boat back to the mainland.

Somehow, between leaving the previous morning and returning the next, the town had transformed itself from sleepy ‘seaside’ town to absolutely heaving market town!

So before our evening bus departed to La Paz, we had a mooch around the many stalls selling all manner of items, from tourist tat to mattresses, to household goods, to huge piles of peanuts and popped corn.

Whilst perusing the market, we also saw dozens and dozens of cars all ‘dressed up’. This was something we’d not come across before and it turns out that this is a regular occurrence in Copacabana, with many Bolivians driving there of a weekend to get their cars blessed by a Catholic priest and a witch doctor (in South America, it seems that both catholicism and indigenous beliefs are often practiced hand in hand) to ensure safe travels.

After a bit of an eclectic mix of stunning scenery and mad markets and religious ceremonies in Copacabana, we can’t wait to see what the rest of Bolivia had in store for us!