Brian's travel adventures: Puno - Bolivia (Huatajata)

Day 24 - Puno - Bolivia (Huatajata)

Puno, Huatajata

Saturday, 14 September 2013

This morning we left Puno by bus to the small town of Juli with our new guide, Ivar, where we boarded the hydrofoil to cross Lake Titicaca into Bolivia. It took us about an hour and a half to reach Copacabana in Bolivia. This is the original Copacabana, not to be confused with the beach we saw in Rio.

We had a walk through the town, up to the Virgin De Copacabana church. You could see the Spanish influence in the design of this church. An interesting custom that car owners have when they take possession of a new car is to have it blessed. The priest will come out of the church to bless the car. The car owner also offers a bottle of champagne to the earth goddess Pachamama. It is if they are hedging their bets in terms of following the Catholic or Inca religion. And interesting ceremony that we were ale to witness. It occurs each day at 10am.

We then hopped back on the hydrofoil and headed to sun Island where climbed the stairs to enjoy a fabulous with with equally fabulous views of Lake Titicaca with with snow covered mountains in the distance.

Back on board the hydrofoil for a 10 minute journey to Moon Island where explored more ruins. A lot of this area was destroyed in recent times which was most unfortunate.

The hydrofoil then took us to Huatajata, our final destination for the day where we checked into the hotel. It took us about an hour and a half. We all took part in the fountain of youth ceremony and had a traditional Bolivian drink.

	Copacabana Bolivia [Map]		Copacabana Bolivia [Map]
	Copacabana Bolivia [Map]		Virgin De Copacabana Church [Map]
	Copacabana - Blessing of the Cars [Map]		Copacabana - Blessing of the Cars [Map]
	Sun Island Lake Titicaca [Map]		Sun Island Lake Titicaca [Map]
	Sun Island Lake Titicaca [Map]		Moon Island Lake Titicaca [Map]
	Moon Island Lake Titicaca [Map]		Moon Island Lake Titicaca [Map]
	Moon Island Lake Titicaca [Map]