Copacabana, Bolivia

The bus leaves Cuzco, Peru at 8:30 am and arrives at Copacabana just as the sun is setting. Copacabana is a small town nestled between hills on the shore of lake Titicaca in Bolivia.
The bus driver recommends a hotel on the shore.

I lug my pack up six flights of stairs to a nice room with the best view. A large window looks west out over the small harbour where dozens of ferries float on the water as well as several kayaks and about a hundred duck shaped recreational paddle boats.

The lake stretches out beyond to the horizon. It is twilight. The sun has set but there is still enough light to set the clouds afire, red, orange and yellow, bright beneath a darkening blue sky.

Because the town is small the tourist shops, restaurants and other services are concentrated in a single street which spans several blocks. I visit a travel agent, money exchange, internet cafe and restaurant.

In the morning the view is still beautiful. The dawn light stretches around the horizon to lightly colour the clouds above the blue lake.

I go down to the harbour and board a boat that heads out over the expanse of blue. There are about thirty passengers on the small ferry. I go up on the roof where there are bench seats but there are several smokers upwind so I go below to get some fresh air.

At the front of the boat there is a small hatch which I can stick my head through but in doing so I knock off my hat. The black hat I bought in Ecuador slides briefly over the roof before it tumbles over the side.

I am upset for a moment but I quickly resolve myself to its loss. I go to the back of the boat to look for it. It has overturned and floats lopsided on the water, a miniature boat drifting away in our wake.

It is a two hour ride to Isla del Sol and the weather is beautiful.

We walk up a stone path past rural houses and crops sparsely planted on the terraces. As in Peru there are more terraces than there are people who are prepared to farm them. I walk with a Swedish girl I met on the boat. We discuss travel, vegetarianism, the eradication of the native Tasmanian, social injustice and much more.

We walk across a sandy beach on the lake shore. The sand is fine and contains no evidence of shells. We walk from the north of the island to the south. We see an ancient Incan stone tablet that was used for human sacrifice and the remains of an Incan village. The remaining walls form a labyrinth. It is impossible to distinguish rooms from halls and street paths.

But the highlight is the walk itself, over the top of the island. Up and down hills. Wonderful views of the lake which looks like a sea. Bays, beaches, trees. The snow capped mountains of Bolivia.

It is a good day.