It’s a new country (Bolivia) and a new town (Copacabana) today…
The 2-hour drive beside the sapphire-blue waters of Lake Titicaca to the Peruvian border town of Yunguyo is simply stunning. And much like at the Ecuador-Peru border there is a huge market is in full swing. Before we can even find Peruvian customs and immigration, we have to negotiate this crazy market: people, animals, carts, and buses all looking to move at the same time in different directions; it’s chaos. We eventually find the appropriate office and the Peruvian bureaucrats stamp our passports without even acknowledging us. The only question now is whether the Bolivian officials will grant Christi a visa. As soon as they realize she’s an American, she is taken aside and her paperwork reviewed. Even though we have a file an inch thick, there appears to be one more document to complete not to mention the US$135 visa fee, which is such a rip-off – don’t get me started. But after a final moment of hesitation, the stamp comes down and Christi is in. I follow in the blink of an eye. Yippee!
Our hotel, Las Olas, is spectacularly situated in the hills overlooking Copacabana harbor and Lake Titicaca. The area resembles the Amalfi coastline, although our million dollar view only costs 36. Our suite is equally spectacular: an upstairs bedroom with tables, chairs and even a hammock. Downstairs is a second bed, more tables and chairs, a small kitchen and a bathroom. There are plant beds in the main living area and even in the shower itself. Most impressive of all, though, are the 10-foot high windows, which afford the superb panoramic views of the harbor and the lake.
Later, we decide to view the sunset from nearby Cerro Calvario. It’s a steep hike to the top at 3,966m (13,000 feet) where a statue of the Virgin Mary of Copacabana encased in glass stares beatifically out over Lake Titicaca. I say beatifically, but she might be mad as hell for all I know, because the route to the top and the summit itself is stacked with trash and adorned with graffiti. Still, the smoking sunset (there’s a fire on the far side of the lake) is magnificent.
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching tale of love and test tubes.
Speak Your Mind