Copacabana is on the edge of the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. The town itself is not that exciting. The draw card here is the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) which I wanted to see as it was a very important island for the Incas. After we arrived, we found a place to sleep that provided hot water (not everywhere does and many that claim to, do not, as we found out), and feasted on Trout (fresh from the Lake – introduced by Canadians in the 50s I think). We then went to the Cathedral to check out the Blessings of the Cars.
Everyday in the morning and again at 2.30pm, the priest and his helpers come out to pray over and sprinkle holy water on the outside and inside of all the cars that have lined up. They also like to flick the water onto people's faces and took great delight in almost making a small boy choke. I didn’t think there would be many cars since this happens twice a day but there were at least 20-30 vehicles all decorated with streamers, confetti and religious effigies awaiting the priests. Little stalls along the sides of the street sold all manner of things to decorate the cars with. You could even by a tin replica of the vehicle you have and get that blessed instead. There was also religious champagne to spray on your car if you felt so inclined – many locals did. I guess it makes sense to have your car blessed here as the roads are so bad and the drivers insane. I wish I could have all our future bus drivers blessed before we put our life in their hands. All in all, it was a very interesting spectacle.
We then explored the Cathedral which had this creepy concrete side bit that stank like urine, was dark inside, and was apparently the place you went to light candles. A beggar grabbed Jon’s arm and refused to let go. He dragged her with him as we made a hasty retreat out of the bunker. Eventually she dropped off.
Later we hiked up Calvary Hill. You pass the 12 Stations of the Cross on your way up to the top. For some reason locals like to throw small stones onto the base of each cross – not sure what that is about but many are not good at aiming. I have my suspicions that some were actually aiming at us. On the way you can also get your fortune read by an old lady. All you have to do is pour some molten zinc or aluminum (some sort of silver stuff) into a bucket of cold water and then she deciphers the shape it forms – makes perfect sense!
The view from the top was pretty cool – worth the torturous climb (are we ever going to be fit). I had no idea how big Lake Titicaca is. It turns out that it is at an altitude of 3810m and covers a total of 8500km squared. It is 300 metres deep at its deepest point. At 170km long and 60km wide, it is the world’s highest navigable lake. It looks more like an ocean.
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