We woke early so we could repack our bags before the journey to Copacabana (this is the town on the shores of Lake Titicaca that we are talking about, not the famous Copacabana in Brazil or Cuba, although we do have the Barry Manilow song stuck on our heads!). We bought our bus ticket before eating breakfast, to make sure we had seats near the front of the bus so we could get off at Huarina without having to fight our way through the people sitting in the aisles. We needn’t worry though, as the bus wasn’t very full when we left Sorata promptly at 10:00am. It did fill up along the way though, and there were certainly people sitting in the aisle before long!

It was cloudy again today, but we still had some good views of Sorata as we climbed back out of the valley.
Passing a truckThe road between Sorata and Huarina is in the process of being widened and paved, so there are work crews along the winding road. It didn’t take long for us to come across a crew that had recently decided to take a big chunk out of the cliff and put it in the middle of the road so we couldn’t pass. It only took about 20 minutes for them to clear it though, so it wasn’t much of a delay and made for a couple of good pictures. There was much more traffic on the road this morning than when we had gone to Sorata in the late afternoon, and there were some “tricky moments” when we had to narrowly pass other trucks. Either us or them usually had to back up to a wider section of road and then slowly inch past each other.

View while waiting for the busEventually we made it to Huarina, and the bus dropped us off on the side of the road near the intersection where the road splits to go to Copacabana. There were two other tourists doing the same thing as us – an Israeli guy and a girl from Germany. We crossed the road and started our wait for a bus to come along and pick us up. We asked a couple of vendors if this was a good place to flag down buses to Copacabana, and they assured us that it was. Many buses and micros went by going back towards Sorata, but none for Copa. Finally, after an hour, a bus for Copa came along and we all waved at him to stop, but he didn’t. Damn. We decided to walk down past where the road splits, so that we would be on the road to Copa, to make it easier to determine which micros and buses where going our way. Forty-five minutes later another Copa bus came along, but he didn’t stop either. We started trying to flag down micros that were going to Tiquina, a town half-way to Copa, so we could at least get part of the way and then maybe take a taxi from there. Another tourist joined our group, after getting off another bus from Sorata (Julia from Wisconsin). These micros were coming from La Paz and were all jammed full with people already so they didn’t stop. We were starting to wonder if we would make it to Copa today at all, and the Israeli guy decided that he would wait until 5:00 and then catch a bus to La Paz and try for Copa the next day. We didn’t want to go to La Paz and thought we might see if there was a hotel in Huarina we could stay in. Eventually another bus for Copa came along and he actually stopped, but when we all turned to grab our bags and run for the bus, he took off! What a jerk! The bus wasn’t full, so we couldn’t figure out why he did that. The Israeli guy was really mad by now and decided he would leave. It didn’t take him long to catch a micro headed for La Paz. About five minutes after he left, a micro bound for Copa stopped for us! Happy day! Lo and behold, right behind him stopped a bus going to Copa as well, without us even having to flag him down! There was more room on the bus, so we all piled on, so happy to be getting to Copa. We felt bad for the Israeli guy, because if he had waited until 5:00 as he said he would, he would have caught the bus too, which came along at 4:45, after 3 hours of waiting.

Our adventure was not over yet though. When we arrived at Tiquina we stopped in front of the water and
Our bus crossing the straightwere told to get off the bus. Huh? It turned out that the bus went across the straight on a raft, while the passengers went across on little motor boats. It was quite amusing. We were worried about the bus falling off the raft with our big packs on board, but we asked one of the workers how many buses had fallen in the water and he told us none. Phew. Eventually the bus floated over, and we all piled back on.

Lincoln on the passenger boatAs we drove along the shores of Lake Titicaca, the sun started to set and it was a beautiful sight. Surrounding the lake are rolling hills, and the lake has many islands. The sunset was many colours of orange and a great backdrop for the rolling hills. Some sections you can’t see across the lake at all, and it looks like the ocean. The landscape was beautiful, and we are looking forward to our hike on Isla del Sol.

We arrived in Copa at 7:00pm and began our search for somewhere to stay. There were a few touts at the bus; us and Julia went with one of them to see his place. It was very basic, and a bit musty smelling (we were spoiled by our nice room in Sorata), so we left to find something else. One of the other touts had followed us, so when we left the hostel he wanted us to go see his place. He said it was a brand new hotel, just two months old, a view of the lake, and they had a special room rate to try and get business. Only 15bs per person – a little less than US $2. We went to have a look, and the place was indeed brand new. New electric shower heads, new firm beds, new televisions, and spotlessly clean. Excellent! We picked rooms on the top floor to make sure we had the best view (us in a double, Julia in a single). We couldn’t see the view yet though, since it was dark, but we trusted it was a good one.

They guys brought brand-new televisions into the rooms, still in their boxes, and set them up for us. We didn’t really need television, but what the heck. Next was going out for dinner. We asked the guys at the hotel to recommend a restaurant, and they suggested the Puerto del Sol, on the main street around the corner. Julia and I each had trout, the local Titicaca specialty, and Lincoln had the best chicken wings he had ever had (his words). There were only two portions of trout left, so Lincoln was gracious and let the ladies have them. I had the “a la Criolla” version, which was delicious. Fried battered fish with a tasty salsa on it, just the way I like it. It was pretty late by the time we finished so we headed back to the hotel and Julia went to the internet café. Julia was quite interesting – the jobs she had left before travelling were a hockey coach, owner of an organic farm, and she also ran a Shakespeare theatre company. Quite the combo! She had also gone to Saint F-X University in Nova Scotia, where she played on their hockey team.