Sunday – 8/16

After sleeping the sleep of the just and the mostly dead, we enjoyed a more leisurely start to our day on the edge of the lake. The dining room overlooks the lake so views are spectacular. We met for breakfast and devotions at 8 and then boarded our faithful hydrofoil for a day out on the lake, with stops. It was beautifully sunny and didn’t feel as cold to me, anyway, so I didn’t even need my coat until later in the day. Yeah!
We bounced across the lake for about an hour and a half.
(I am in a La Paz hotel as I write this, on the 11th floor and there are fireworks outside! Awesome! Watching fireworks from the comfort of an hotel bed!)
The lake is roughly divided into two parts – a shallower southern end, where we were staying, and one goes through a channel into the much larger and deeper lake – up to 900 feet in places. As one passes through the channel, there are two towns, one on either side – San Pablo and San Pedro. As the boat passes the military installation, the captain blows a couple of long notes on the horn and then our presence is verified by the lowering and raising of the flag. We then have permission to proceed! So we did. The little towns are quite lovely from a distance – orange buildings with brightly colored roofs. As we headed out into the larger section we started noticing the steep surrounding hills were all terraced but it didn’t look like too many were being used. Our guide told us they were built about 3000 years ago and farmed for ages until the Spaniards came and captured the indigenous people and used them in the mines to dig out silver. We “civilized” countries certainly have much to repent of.
Our first stop was in Copacabana – yes – really! No sign of Barry Manilow though. It is the main resort town on the lake so we disembarked, eager to see the town. However, all the land around the lake is hilly so we had a good climb to get to the town center. Some of us might have been happy to stay on the pretty beach, under a cheery umbrella! It took us a little time but it was worth it and it is always fun to walk through foreign village streets – so much life is right out there by the street. We went to see the lovely cathedral built by the Spaniards – they did this right! It gleamed white in its square. Services were going on so we could just peek inside. There were some dogs in the church as it was Dog Sunday! We have been told that there are 377 celebrations a year! We have seen three so far, in two days. They overlapped in Copacabana today as it was also the day to bless vehicles. People brought their brightly decorated cars, trucks, buses to the front of the cathedral, raised the hood, and then the priest sprinkled the engine block with holy water contained in a bucket and sprinkled with what looked like a dish washing mop! The whole family was there, dressed in their best. One of them then took a bottle of champagne, shook it and sprayed some it over the engine too! A string of firecrackers was let off, pictures were taken, and then the next vehicles moved up! Quite an event! Most of the vehicles looked like they really needed blessing!
A couple of comments on the dress here – the men dress in basic Western garb so not that interesting but so many of the women dress just like you have seen in the pictures – layered skirt, some under garment covered by a huge shawl or poncho and the ubiquitous black bowler hat – English influence from rather recent history – no more than a couple of hundred years. The women also carry parcels or babies or both on their backs, held there by brightly striped shawls. It’s almost a uniform. Colors vary but the style is always the same. I hope we will actually get to meet some of these dear women when we are out in the villages instead of just passing them on the streets with curiosity, We also noticed that the women are trudging around with these large packs while the men carry nothing. Sigh.
Back down the hill, much easier, and onto the boat. A fairly short ride to Sun Island for lunch – this island was actually rather wooded with some fir trees and eucalyptus – so pretty. Again we had to climb quite a few stairs to the restaurant and occasionally wondered if it would be worth it – but it was. We sat outside – yes, it was warm enough! on a grassy terrace overlooking the lake – just perfect. Lunch was a set menu but excellent. More of the excellent lake trout.
A few of us haggled with some local children who had fabrics – table runners and placemats and back to the boat for our final run. We were to stop at Moon Island to see some ruins but the wind had kicked up and we couldn’t dock safely. Another longish ride brought us back to the hotel where our luggage was already loaded on the bus and another hour and a half brought us back to La Paz. After leaving the countryside, we drove through El Alto, another town bordering La Paz. It is large but poor and quite marginalized by the authorities. It was pretty depressing – almost like an old Wild West town where even vigilante justice is meted out. Stuffed characters are hung up to warn evildoers that they will be punished.
We came to the edge of that area and Ivar told us to close our eyes. The bus turned a corner, we opened our eyes and there lay La Paz filling up a basin surrounded by high hills. It is a beautiful sight. Ivar is very proud of his native city so we all fussed and ooohhhhed.
Next stop was our hotel – very nice (please remember this is our tourist part of the quick check in and gather for dinner at the hotel restaurant. We had a table in a corner, surrounded by windows so we could see the lights of the city. Then the fireworks began! So great!
I retired early to write a bit and just catch my breathe. Tomorrow begins our World Vision time! Can’t wait!