My First Day in Copacabana, Bolivia

After being dropped off at another hotel (the driver thought everyone on the bus was staying at the same hotel), the front desk called a taxi to take me to my hotel (featured in the blog above). The entrance to my hotel was a dirt road with chickens, random dogs and a baby kitten all keeping me company as I walked to the reception desk. After waiting 15 minutes for the staff to clean the room, I locked my stuff up (a lesson learned early on in my days in Buenos Aires) and headed to the “centro.”

I’m not quite sure of the population, but there can’t be more than 5,000 residents in this resort town facing Lake Titikaka. It seemed like a more tranquil and smaller version of La Paz – the women wore the same traditional outfits, the streets were full of homeless dogs, and everyone was selling the same things on the street.

But, after a bit of walking through the tourist trap part of town, I ran into a spectacular cathedral set in a beautiful plaza. The architecture was similar to that which I have seen in parts of Argentina and Peru, and I’m guessing it was colonial-Spanish. After a few hours, I retired to my hotel room, with its own built-in hammocks facing the window with views of the lake, and took a three-hour nap. I don’t ever recall having fallen asleep in a hammock before!

Well, everyone in La Paz (as well as every guide book) said that Lake Titikaka has the best tasting freshwater trout in the world, so I wanted to try. One travel book (Lonely Planet) said the restaurant at my hotel had the best – how convenient. I arrived at 8:30 and ordered the “trucha a la plancha” (grilled trout) and a glass of white wine. At 9:00, still waiting for my meal, I ordered another glass of wine. After finishing it at around 9:20, I called the waiter over and asked what happened to my food (oh, and I also ordered another glass of wine.). He apologized and about five minutes later, he brought me my dish. It was “seco” (dry) and was definitely not “fresco” (fresh). It had obviously been sitting on the counter for at least 30 minutes (while I waited). To make a long story short, 10 minutes later a fresh and delicious grilled trout was brought out to me and, best of all, it was free of charge (including the wine!) because of their oversight.

Since there was no TV or internet in my hotel room, I bought a bootleg DVD of Pelham 1-2-3 and a bottle of wine, and retired early for my early morning trip to Isla del Sol the next day.