Rambling back into Lake Titicaca once again, I was renewed with a brand new travel spirit knowing that in one more day, I will cross back into Peru soil. Checking into the hostal with the corner room overlooking the lake(and busting my budget), I couldn't wait to get my teeth sunk into a trucha once again! Settling into a lake-view seafood restaurant along the stretch of beach, I devoured the entire trucha fried with mantequilla(butter) in sheer delight. It comes with rice, salad and fries for only 15bolivianos, less than US$2.
The next morning, I attempted to do some fat-burning exercise by climbing up the steep Cerro Calvario, a little hill behind the town of Copacabana with a million-dollar view over the lake and the town. For a while, I was confused when I counted 14 stations of the cross(isn't there only 12 stations?) when I reached the top after 45mins of panting and wowing(over the view). My Canadian travel-mate later told me that he went to the original in Jerusalem and it is also 14 stations, with 2 more cross inside the church itself, so....maybe I was not that bad a Catholic after all, huh? Hehe hehe...
On weekends, the town folks go a bit loco about blessing their vehicles in front of the Cathedral. A line up of vans, buses and cars first get decorated with bouquets of flowers, and after the priest blesses it, they get so excited they actually spray champagne and wine all over their vehicles, friends, mother, etc. Fresh rose petals also get strewn all over their vehicles thereafter, sticking on the windows and sides together with the sprayed alcohol...a pretty interesting but messy affair, I think. Car wash service is not very common in this country, I think.
Walking through the main square in the morning, I was surprised to find a queue forming near the Police Station, some folks with 2 yellow gas tanks or more. Later on, I found out that these are empty tanks and people actually have to heave their tanks from their homes or restaurants to exchange for new tanks in the town centre! Gee...I'll bet a delivery service will go down well with these folks, if there is one!
Copacabana is a truly relaxing place to stay and chill out for 2 days or more... Of course, I savoured the last bit of trucha for lunch before I left town on a crappy bus towards Arequipa, my next destination in Peru.
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