Down and Out in Copacabana (June 3-4, 2006)

The plan for Copacabana was to spend the first day wandering around the sites in and around the town, gather our supplies for camping on Isla del Sol, and leave the following day for the Island. Unfortunately our plans didn’t work out quite as planned. The first day Lincoln wasn’t feeling very well. He had been having mild diarrhea issues for the past two or three days and his stomach wasn’t great today, so we didn’t bother walking to any of the pre-Incan ruins that lie just outside the town. We did walk around the town, went to the impressive Cathedral (a big pilgrimage site after the Virgen of Candelaria made her appearance her in the 16^th century – this should have been in the Mary book we read for book club, Kym!). We also walked around the market buying food for our camping trip, and went on a wild goose chase trying to find kerosene. We kept asking people where to buy it, and they would say “around the corner over there”. We would go around the corner over there, see no kerosene, and ask someone else who would say “around the corner over there”. They were always indicating in the same couple of blocks, but we just couldn’t find it! We asked the ladies in the big cooking area of the market where they buy their kerosene and they said from a guy beside the shoemakers just down the street. Well we had asked these shoemakers and one of them said to knock on a garage door around the corner. No signs or anything, just knock. We knocked a few times but there was no answer. A little girl around four walked by and told us that they were out and would be back later (small children wander around by themselves all the time in small towns in Bolivia – often caring for even younger siblings, as well as the family business!). We decided to give up for the day and try again the following morning; perhaps it was just too late in the day.

Lincoln wasn’t feeling well enough to walk up the hill in the town to watch the sunset, so we watched it from our room (the view probably the same!). The sunsets in Copa never were as good as the one we saw while driving here from Sorata. We went out for dinner to a restaurant that had a fire going in a clay oven, which cheered Lincoln up a bit (“fire made it good!” – Simpson’s quote, one of Linc’s favourites). We had a beer too, which lifted his spirits even more, and had a nice chat with a couple of other travellers sitting at the next table.

I knew better, and even as I was eating the salad for lunch I said to Lincoln “I hope this is okay”, so really it was my own fault that around midnight my body started violently objecting to something in my stomach. I spent the rest of the night alternating between vomiting and diarrhea and was absolutely miserable by the morning. The alarm went off and Lincoln said “are we going to the Island today?” As if. While I was still in bed Lincoln went out to get more juice, water, toilet paper, and he actually managed to find the kerosene seller, right beside the shoemakers, just like the cooking ladies had told us! This was good news, because we did not want to eat a cold dinner while on the Island. I stayed in bed until around 1:00pm when I managed to drag myself out to go see the blessing of the cars, which happens daily at 9:30 and 2:30 in front of the Cathedral. We had seen decorated vehicles around the town and wanted to see the ceremony itself. It seemed to be mostly new cars, decorated with flowers and ribbons that were brought to the Cathedral to be blessed by the monks and shamans. The monk circles the car with incense and holy water and sprinkles the car inside and out, even under the hood, chanting and praying for the safety of the vehicle. Then the owner cracks open a bottle of champagne and sprays it all over the wheels and around the bottom half of the car. Next is a string of firecrackers set off around car for a final hoorah. Now the vehicle will safely carry its passengers for the rest of its life.

We wandered back down to the beach, where we both had trouble finishing a plate of french fries (I had about five), and sat watching people go by. It was Sunday, and lots of families were out enjoying the day. Paddle boats, kayaks, sail boats, trout stalls; all were busy. We went back to the room so I could lie down for a while before we went out again to call Dad for his birthday. We went out for dinner as well, but I only ordered toast, of which I could barely finish one piece, but the nice lady brought me some tea that was supposed to be good for my stomach. Luckily, during the night, my body managed to finish fighting the bad bug, and in the morning I was hungry again and felt better. It was one day late, but we were off to the Isla del Sol!