Hostal Copacabana

The Bolivian Navy

by tejanasueca

As Bolivia does not boarder any oceans, their navy is stationed by Lake Titicaca. The navy is small, but proud. Bolivia is since many years back in a dispute with Chile regarding their right to have a small corridor in northern Chile out to the Pacific Ocean. Hence, the motto of the Bolivia Navy is to make claim to this piece of coast line they feel they are entitled too. While they wait for this to happen, the have to settle with these kinds of trainings on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Walk to Isla del Sol

by gonzo747

It's impossible to walk all the way to Isla del sol from Copacabana, but you can do a walk untill Yampupata. There is a little harbor here where you can pay some one do transfer you to Isla del Sol.It's about 17 km from Copacabana to Yampupata. Once you're transfered to the Isla it's about 3km to the village.
The walk itself passes through a few small villages and has many spectacular views of Lake Titicaca.
The transfer over Lake Titicaca was one to remember as well. A 70 year old man rowed us to Isla del Sol (After having a lot of coca leaves). People are hard workers over here.
On Isla del Sol we had to walk over the terrasses to get to the village.

I recommend this walk to everyone who's not afraid to do 20 km on this altitude.

!!! INCA SHORTCUT

Once you are at a lourdes cave (which is a bit of the road) you have two possibilities: or stay at the road or take the inca shortcut. The track of the shortcut is hard to see, but do as we did and you'll be allright) just keep on going up and follow the animal droppings.
The shortcut isn't easy, it is very steep and it will take less energy if you take the normal road.

COPACABANA

by swesn

... +| Part of SA 2005 |+ ...

For more details of my COPACABANA Travelogue (SA 2005), please visit :

09) BOLIVIAN RHAPSODY
( .. Copacabana .. Isla del Sol .. La Paz .. Cochabamba .. Torotoro .. Santa Cruz .. Sucre .. Potosi .. Uyuni .. Salar de Uyuni .. )

Beautiful town on the lake

by MrRandMcnally

"Perfect view on the lake"

Capacabana is a charming little town with a perfect half moon harbor on Lake Titikaca. The town has drawn many touriest, often hippies to smoke marijuana, and dance on Sun Island. Because of, or despite this, there is a nice coffee house scene with lots of live music and of course an amazing view.

"Watch out for rock throwers"

Copacabana is a very cool town with a beautifull port on Lake Titikaca but there is a problem, it is in Bolivia. This meens you are in the poorest country on the continent, a country that is rarely stable. We hiked our way in from the Peruvian border, about 5KM, because the Bolivians were on strike, protesting the sale of natural gas from hundreds of miles south of Copacabana. The strike ment that anyone who used a motor vehicle was risking being stoned to death. This is apparently not a rare occurance, though people seem to think there will be less strikes now that they have the head of the coca growers, as in cocaine, as president. It is good to check on the political situation before entering.

Lagua Titicaca en Copacabana

by tejanasueca

Copacabana is a strange mix between old and new. It's proximity to the Sun Island, the scarce islands where the founders of the Inca Empire were born, tells if it's historical aspect. However, it's peaceful location by the shores of the Titicaca Lake has also attracted a young, often western, crowd trying to escape the busy 20th century.

Hence, the street hawkers in this town is a mix of indigenous with colorful traditional clothing, and what we would probably define, "modern day hippies," selling homemade bracelets, etc. It is a rather interesting mix, and it is obvious that some people that have come here on vaction, has simply opted to stay. However, this crowd is not big enough, thankfully, to expand the town in a noticable way. Rather, the town is still small, calm, and peaceful.

Essentially, Copacabana was a rather restfull stop on my South America trip, which included big cities such as Lima, La Paz, and Buenos Aires.