(text is adapted from the travel journal of Lynn Shaw)

Bolivia is one hell of a country to get around in, what with the mountains, rugged terrain, and crappy roads. The 148 km (92 mile) trip from La Paz to Copacabana, on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, takes well over four and a half hours.

En route to Copacabana one can visit indigenous people whose ancestors have lived around Lake Titicaca for millennia. They are known for their use of balsas, traditional boats handcrafted from totoro, the marsh reeds that grow in the shallow water around the shore. These crafts are used for fishing and are sometimes affixed with sails, also made from reeds. They are the same design as the Kon Tiki and Ra II, Thor Heyerdahl’s boats, when he tried to replicate the voyage from Peru to French Polynesia. In fact, the father of the man who gave a demonstration on how the reeds were woven to construct the boats had met with Thor Heyerdahl when he visited Lake Titicaca. There were many pictures on the walls documenting this meeting.

Lake Titicaca is a large, deep lake in the Andes on the border of Bolivia and Peru. By volume of water and by surface area, it is the largest lake in South America. It is often called the “highest navigable lake” in the world, with a surface elevation of 3,812 metres (12,507 ft).

Copacabana is the main Bolivian town on the shore of Lake Titicaca. The town is known for its famous Basilica, home of the Virgin of Copacabana, its trout, and its quaint atmosphere. Built between Mount Calvario and Mount Niño Calvario, the town has approximately 6,000 inhabitants. Boats leave for Isla del Sol from Copacabana, where one can experience the sacred Inca island from Copacabana.

Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) is an island in the southern part of Lake Titicaca.  Just a short boat ride from Copacabana, one can take beautiful hikes on the island and visit the local villages. After hiking, one can dine at a local restaurant that definitely is farm to table cuisine.   Local meals include fava beans, jumbo kernel corn, white, black, and dehydrated potatoes. There are as many as 1000 varieties of potatoes, and of course, the delicious pink trout the Lake Titicaca is famous for.

Geographically, the terrain is harsh; it is a rocky, hilly island with many eucalyptus trees. There are no motor vehicles or paved roads on the island. According to Andean legend, a pair of gods rose from the waters to found the Inca empire and the Indian people who live in small settlements around the lake believe that the Island of the Sun is the site of this mythic moment of creation. The island is currently home to indigenous families who farm the ancient agricultural terraces.

Hotel Rosario, a boutique hotel in Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca is gorgeous, every room in different Andean design, a great view of the Lake, and delicious fresh pink salmon/trout for dinner. After dinner one can stroll around the beautiful town. When the local residents celebrate Carnivale, everyone decorates their minivans with flowers, balloons and streamers, and conduct ceremonies in the town square. The whole town smells of alcohol, Chicha to be exact, the corn home brewed beer. Obviously, drinking plays a big part of the ceremony of blessing the car, and why shouldn’t it?

(Adapted from the travel journals of Lynn Shaw)

The acquisition of Diamox, a drug that fends off the symptoms of high altitude sickness, is a must if you are going to La Paz, Bolivia. If you forget to bring some, every pharmacy and drug store in La Paz can sell you some without an Rx and for a fraction of the price you paid in the states. Otherwise, the ubiquitous “mate de coca” is reputed to be a natural tea substance that will likewise ease the pain of being 12,000 feet above sea level quickly.

Perched at that altitude, the city of La Paz sits in the Andes mountain range like a densely populated bowl of 1.3 million inhabitants. The city center is in the bottom of the bowl. The upward slopes can be accessed by a relatively modern system of cable cars called “telepheriques”. Generally, the higher up you go, the more ramshackle the construction of the buildings will be. At the very top, is the rugged landscape of the Altiplano, a vast flat area with very poor infrastructure and incomplete buildings. The country-side residents of the Altiplano abandon their homes to go down to work in the city center, but when they secure enough funds, they return to them to add on to the ongoing construction project that is their home.

Half of the 11 million people in Bolivia are indigenous Aymara, descendants of the Incas. Most are itinerant street vendors in the markets hawking the usual market fare of fresh produce and other farm products. A kind of specialty market called the witch’s market sells plants, potions and talismans used in ancient Aymara “currandero” (healing) rituals. If you’re not in the market for a little healing, for an exchange of good old fashioned currency a “yatiri” or witch doctor can give you a little fortune reading. If that’s not your thing, many of the stalls in the witch’s market also sell the fetuses of llamas, (claimed by the vendors to be the products of naturally spontaneous abortions) for “good luck” charms that you bury under your house. Because nothing says “good luck” like a decomposing baby llama under your house.

Take a gander at the local traditional garb. A feast for the eyes and also, an unsolved enigma: how do they keep those little hats from rolling right off their heads and down the street? Top secret. Don’t ask. Cause, they won’t tell. And, be quick if you take a photo because the populace is pretty shy and also pretty sure that what you’re really up to is the theft of their soul with that thing.

If you happen to get to La Paz during Carnivale you are in for a treat. EVERYBODY, especially the teen-agers, practice the “age-old custom” of spraying everyone in their vicinity with shaving cream. This is great fun. No. But, on the upside, you can purchase a plastic poncho  on just about every street in town. But, also, those same clever vendors are selling the shave cream. A racket for sure, but strangely fun to partake in. Desto3 advice: when in La Paz, do as the Bolivians do.