Saturday evening at Copacabana

Saturday's destination was Copacabana. Just the name evokes images of dancing girls, tropical beaches... and Barry Manilow! But that's actually Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. The Bolivian version is a little less glamorous, especially in the depths of a southern hemisphere winter.

On Sunday morning we had the opportunity to look around. A few ventured down into town, but Danny, Gerard and I headed up along the route of the 14 crucifixes to the hill of Cerro Calvario. Copacabana lies at around 4000m above sea level where the air is thinner, so the 150m or so vertical climb proved to be quite challenging and we had to stop a couple of times during the climb to catch our breath.

Climbing the 14 Crucifixes - with Danny and Gerard

But it was worth it as the view of the town from the top of the hill was impressive. We could see the cathedral in the centre (one of the oldest in Bolivia), the main square, the colourful houses, and the hills surrounding them. The view of Lake Titicaca was also very impressive.

Copacabana panorama

The summit is a gathering place for all sorts.  As well as religious devotion - candles and crucifixes, we found a variety of small stalls selling fizzy pop to figurines in plastic.  Copacabana is a tourist spot for Bolivians; and tourists do like to buy tat.  I bought some expensive water, but it was worth it after the climb.

Colourful pop

Remembering Pop?

Lake Titicaca, the largest in South America, is the highest navigable lake in the world - whatever that means. The lake is also a barrier between Copacabana and the main part of Bolivia; there is no land connection. If crossing freezing water is not your thing, you have to travel via Peru to reach the 'mainland', but apparently the border crossing is a pain. So for most people there's a flotilla of ferries that transport cars from one side to the other and the journey takes about ten minutes. The isolated nature of Copacabana seems very odd, but no doubt there's a lot of history and perhaps blood behind it

Copacabana lakefront - there's a duck down there somewhere

One other thing Copacabana is also famous for is blessing cars. This is done in front of the cathedral and Copacabana is the only place in Bolivia that does this. Cars travel from all over the country to be blessed. The ceremony includes placing flowers under the wipers and concludes with fire crackers; although maybe that's not part of the actual blessing.

We didn't look too hard, but there was no sign of Lola or Rico.
:
well thumbed from my BlackBerry