24-26th Copacobana

Not not of the Barry Manilow fame but Copacabana a wee town on Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian side. The border crossing was uneventful and fairly normal. The town looked a bit run down but our hostal was right at the lake side and really nice and really really cheap. We wandered up to the main square and the cathedral where a bunch of locals were going inside. We joined them, the singing was bizzare, a sort of high pitched, childlike, verse that sound almost eastern. Yesterday in Amantani Normans mother had spoken to another local woman and the language sounded really easteren almost chineese but then that`s the origins of the people and therefore the language. It`s amazing that after all this time is still sounds similar.
Tomar wandered into the church and joined us asking who was singing - I told him I thought it was a tape, only then all the people started to leave the church and all the ladies were singing this high pitched chant - wierd.
We followed them outside to the blessing of the cars ceremony which takes palce each day in Copacabana. The local priest in full brown Fransiscan robes prays at each car then splashed holy water from a bucket, usings a red and white flower on the owners, the family and the car. Whats a bit worrying is the bonnets are raised and the priest splashed holy water inside the engine!
Each of the cars are covered in beautiful flowers and after the priest has finished the owners crack open a beer and have a drink and give the pachamama a drink too. All very strange.
In keeping with the religious theme we do the walk up the main hill in Copacabana of the Stations of the Cross. The hill is really steep and pretty hard going especially at this altitute (at least thats my exucse). At the top of this huge religious Icon are people selling toy cars and a couple of old drunk blokes who start to descend the hill but can't actually walk and fall over. I watch as one tried to pull the other up to no avail so finally lies down beside him on the side of the hill and they both have a wee snooze. What a way to spend the day.
That night we had dinner in a nice wee place then retired to the only bar in town (well almost) and met up with a few people who had been on our tours for the last few days, had a few drinks and put the world to right.
Next day we took the slowest boat in the world over to Isla del Sol, where the whole Inca empire began. The fact that we could have rowed the boat faster didn't actually blight the beautiful scenery of Lake Titicaca but then again it may have been the petorl fuel.
Arriving in Isla del Sol a local met the boat and took us to the museum and to the first Inca sites which he explained. He explained in Spanish and spoke no English but still expected paying for his troubles, like the rest of his explanations we said we didn't understand and badly gave him nothing. He had taken us past a couple of ruins which were very small and on no grand scale.
We then went on our main expedition of Isla del Sol to walk the 3 hours to the other side of the island. Some of the walk was pretty steep and at nearly 4000m it was pretty hard in places. But the views of the lake and main land Peru and Bolivia were amazing. The air is so clear and thin the sun is so bright everything is crystal clear. The sea is the most fantastic blue colour it's really beautiful. At the end of the walk refreshments were to be found in the small village which included a well earned beer. Back on the slow boat thankfully from the near side of the island we reached Copacabana in time for dinner and more drinks in the bar with all our new found friends.
The route from Cusco to La Paz is filled with the same faces which is quite nice after 3 months on the road giving Copacabana a kind of homely feel, you almost feel as though you know the place and everybody in it - wierd.