Tale of Castaways on Lake Titicaca

After three-and-a-half hours on a Bolivian bus, we arrived in the small town of Copacabana, not to be confused with the more famous city with the same name in Brazil. Copacabana is situated on Lake Titicaca, near the border of Bolivia and Peru. As we had become accustomed in Bolivia, the bus was crammed with people, with one Cholita almost sitting on Ricky's lap. Cholita, or chola, was once a derogatory term used for indigenous women, but has since been reclaimed and is now a term that the indigenous people use with pride. This time, there was no livestock to be seen on the bus and Ricky couldn't hear any birds chirping – just lots of people, including us, chewing on coca leaves like ruminating cows.

We had also been accustomed to the hot water, or lack of, in Bolivia. But high in the sky, where the temperatures are almost arctic for two sub-tropical boys, we craved a hot shower. The number of hostels in Copacabana that advertised 24-hour hot water worried us when the same wasn't advertised outside of our hostel. Like other places that we had stayed at in Bolivia, getting the hot water to work was like trying to unlock a safe; one turn to the left, three to the right and then maybe you might be able to unlock the hot water. Most of the time the water was lukewarm at best.

Copacabana is on the gringo trail and most people stop only for a short period to explore Lake Titicaca. The lake is shared between Peru and Bolivia, but the sacred Inca islands, Isla de la Luna and Isla del Sol are situated on Bolivian territory. Reluctantly, Jason was dragged along on a day tour of the lake and the islands, like he was Gilligan aboard the Minnow. "Sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip that started from this [mountain] port aboard this tiny ship". We set out at 8:30am and, after almost two and a half hours, we made it to the Isla de la Luna. The tour company had advertised that they got people to the islands quicker because their boats had two motors. They forgot to mention that they don't use both motors simultaneously and the only benefit to having two motors is that, if one breaks down, there is a back-up. Initially, the waters seemed calm, but travelling between Isla de la Luna and Isla del Sol, "the weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed" and started to sway and rock. Having some idea of the safety standards in Bolivia, or the lack of, we started to prepare ourselves that we could end up in the lake. Fortunately, we survived the journey and didn't end up a sacrifice to the Incan gods (or stuck on an "uncharted desert isle with Gilligan, the Skipper too, a millionaire and his wife ...")

After a short stop on Isla de la Luna to explore the Inca temple ruins, we set off for Isla del Sol, the birthplace of the Inca sun god. The slow-moving boat putted its way across the sea to the island, taking almost an hour. Once on the island, we had an hour before boarding the boat to head back to the mainland. All in all, we spent more time on the boat than on the islands. Oh well, at least we got to see parts of Lake Titicaca, although Jason would say that it was eight hours that he will never get back. In Bolivia, there is always a level of surprise and you can never be quite sure what you might get. How something is advertised and the end product may not be the same!

After the tour of Titicaca, we had worked up an appetite and went in search for food. A few places advertised that they accepted Visa and MasterCard, but when asked "¿accepta tarjetas de credito?", the response was that they only accepted cash, which was fairly common across the country. Tax evasion seems almost a sport in the country. Finally, we found a restaurant that not only accepted credit cards but also offerred more than the standard Bolivian menu of milanesas, chuleta (pork chops), lomitos, chicken and chips or hamburgers. After fuelling up, it was an early night to prepare for our next destination.

Next stop: PunoRead more