24th April - Bolivia and Copacabana

May 23, 2013

On the Wednesday morning we were at the bus station in Puno early for a 7.30am bus to Bolivia and Copacabana, a small town also on the shore of lake Titicaca.

On the bus at Puno bus station

We got through the border no problem, getting off the bus, leaving Peru and then going through Bolivian immigration and then getting back on the bus. Both Peru and Bolivia gave me small slips of paper as entry permits, which I kept loose in my passport. I managed to lose the Bolivian one at some point.

I photographed out of the bus window on the way, mainly producing blurry shots (although my ISO was high), except for this one of fish farming on the lake, with two little boats.

We got to Copacabana at about 11.30am and booked in to our hostel.

Copacabana is an annoying place. It is absolutely full of gringo hippies who have opened numerous bars and pizza parlours on the main drag and try and tout for your business. These are full of other hippies who seem to have nothing better to do than 'hang out'. The attraction is the Isla del Sol which was a very sacred place to the Incas and the site of their creation myth. The hippies are getting the vibes.

The name Copacabana is thought to derive from the name of an ancient fertility god Kotawana who lived in Lake Titikaka with his retinue, including mermaids who are portrayed in some of the catholic churches (they were in the door carvings of the Iglesia de la Compania in Araquipa). The present basilica is built over the ruins of the main Temple of the Fertility of Kotawana.

We went to visit the Basilica of our lady of Copacabana. It is a large church and in a side chapel is La Virgen de la Candeleria a statue carved from cactus wood in 1583 by the grandson of Inca ruler Huayna Kapac. He made several attempts at the carving, eventually going to Italy to learn how to do it properly. This statue is now venerated all over Bolivia and there are festivals in honour of the Virgin. Outside the church you can occasionally see lorries and cars who come to be blessed.

Statue of Francisco Tito Yupanqui, sculptor of the Virgin statue

We had read in our guide book that there were some pre-Inca sites in Copacabana which we resolved to visit. The first was La Horca del Inca, or the 'Incan gallows', a misnomer as the site was created by the pre-Inca Chiripa tribe in the 14th century BC, may be as an astronomical observatory. It was a stiff walk up a hill in the hot early afternoon sunshine to reach the site.

On the way up there were great views over the town and the rock formations were really interesting

This is the Horca del Inca. There were originally 7 horizontal slabs across it but the Spanish removed 6 of them. The hole carved in the side of the left upright is part of the observatory.

Descending the hill we came to the outskirts of the town where we found some carved slabs known as Inti Kalla or Inca Tribunal as they have seats carved in to them.

At the bottom of the field, on the way out there were a couple of cows and a calf. Mairi made her way past them no problem but they took exception to me (it may have been the camera!) and charged. Having no wish to be trampled I had to come out by a more circuitous route

Killer cows

After a brief visit to the hostel to change cameras, we walked back down to the shoreline, not much else to do in Copacabana.

The harbour!

The main drag!

Boats unloading from the Isla del Sol

There were a number of temporary restaurants by the shore all selling trout suppers and we determined that that evening we would have a cold beer and then go for trout.

We sat overlooking the shore and waited for the sun to set.