Copacabana
No, we did not decide to forget about the Inca and turn around to go laze on the beach in Brazil; Copacabana also happens to be the name of the main resort town on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. After fighting our way through “real Bolivia” for a few weeks, we decided we were going to stick to the “gringo trail” for a while, and mega-famous Lake Titicaca looked like the right destination to avoid getting off the beaten path. We even left La Paz on a tourist bus with pickup service from our hostel, for the first time since Antigua, 8 months ago already!
Copacabana is indeed quite a tourist nest, but frankly we are not about to complain about the presence of a myriad of reasonably priced hostels and restaurants catering to northern tastes! Besides, it remains a charming little town (as soon as you get off the two tourist streets), with a little beach lined with fish restaurants and paddle boats, quiet streets with brick and mud houses, a beautiful church, women in bowler or straw hats selling their wares in and around the market, and the occasional person walking their pig (or donkey or sheep or cow) through town. You can also climb up the two hills between which Copacabana is nested for a great view of the town and of course the lake, all the way to the famous Isla del Sol and beyond.
As a perk, there are even some old piles of stones to look at: one of the hills served as an astronomical observatory in Inca times and probably before. What you can still see today is called la Horca del Inca, a large stone gate, through which the sun sets during the winter equinox, sending rays of sun through two round holes carved out in rocks nearby. The other hill is called El Calvario, and as its name suggests, there is nothing left of whatever might have been on top before the Spanish arrived. It is now home to a pilgrimage route with the stations of the cross, and crowned with a statue of the Virgin.
Take a look at the pictures, and check out the next post if you want to know more about the “famous” Virgin of Copacabana and the somewhat strange traditions surrounding it!
August 6th, 2010 - 03:47
I certainly didn’t imagine pedalling lake Titicaca on a Donald Duck, off Cobacabana beach… But what a view from the stone porch!