Like Puno in Peru, Copacabana in Bolivia lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca, and at 3,812m above sea level - is the highest "navigable" lake in the world (i.e. you can put a big boat on it).
Of course, before I got to gaze upon its highness, I had to negotiate the border between Peru and Bolivia. Normally not a problem, but as I queued up, I noticed that everyone else was clutching a wee yellow booklet to say that they'd received a yellow fever vaccination, and I possessed neither the booklet nor the vaccination (In my defence, Bolivia wasn't on my original list of countries to visit. Actually, that's not really any defence at all.). Luckily, the very pleasant border control lady didn't give two hoots about whether I was infecting her fellow citizens with a deadly infectious disease, so in I trotted.
Once in Copacabana, I headed straight for my accommodation first. For only £8 a night, I even got my own balcony ...
... and breakfast ...
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| Although I've no idea what this is supposed to be |
Rant 1: I also found time to have my bank card hoovered by an ATM. Every single ATM I've ever used in the world gives you your card before your cash, just in case you walk off leaving your card in the machine. Well, not in Bolivia. It gave me my cash first. Then I walked off leaving my card in the machine. Luckily, I had 2 other bank cards as back-up. Surely I couldn't be stupid enough to do this again? ...
Anyway, Copacabana has quite a long and steep "Calvary Hill" which offers nice views of the town and lake. And several people trying to sell you souvenirs, despite the fact that they must have taken all their merchandise up the hill the hard way.
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| Copacabana and Lake Titicaca |
The other thing to do here is to take a ride out to the Isla del Sol. Not really much to say about it except you do get some lovely views from here, and it's all very tranquil. Some people stayed here a couple of nights, but not me, as I was booked on a bus to La Paz.
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| Isla del Sol |
The final leg of the Peruhop (now called Boliviahop) trip was the bus to La Paz, and having to decamp to get a short ferry over the lake. I was wondering why we couldn't just stay on the bus - but having seen the state of the boats, I could see why. The trip over Lake Titicaca coincided with dusk and some magnificent forked lightning, none of which I managed to capture on camera.
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| A rickety ferry. Sponsored by Pepsi for some reason. |
And coming up after a particularly bumpy bus ride (Top tip: Don't sit at the back of Bolivian buses) ... La Paz.
(Bonus Rant 2: Met the first person I disliked on this entire trip. I sat beside a German lassie on the bus and remarked that South Americans seemed to be quite switched on and vocal about politics. She snarkily replied that if perhaps we had been more switched on in the UK, then we wouldn't have voted to leave the EU. In a textbox example of l'esprit de l'escalier, I should have retorted "And maybe if you'd been more switched on in Germany in 1933, you wouldn't have voted in Hitler.").
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