Bolivia

Today we travelled from Puno by bus to Copacabana where we caught a catamaran to first visit Sun Island and then go on to La Paz. Copacabana is in Bolivia so we had to cross another border and change our cash once again. It's a well known tourist spot, though it does seem a little run down. It is famous (apparently) for the church which houses the Black Madonna. Mind you the Madonna isn't black, the sculptor was black. Outside the church was a stall selling votive offerings - basically toys that were meant to represent the wishes of the person - so there were toy cars and suitcases with passport and money, etc. The idea is that you buy something that you''d really like to have and maybe get the priest to bless it and then in a year or so you might get it.







We then sailed to Sun Island which is considered the origin of the Inca Civilisation and therefore a holy place. It's on the edge of Lake Titicaca not far from Copacabana.
Lake Titicaca is huge. It's about 8,500sq. km. in area, so its about 4 times the size of Port Philip Bay.
On Sun Island we saw demonstrations of a number of local skills, boat building, weaving, farming, as well as a demonstration of one of the religious ceremonies carried out by their Shamans.








Finally we got to La Paz, a city of contrasts, from the beautiful vista from the hills above it to the terrible traffic snarls down below