Copacabana – no, not that one, the other one!

Yes another wonderful place that is within a couple of hours of La Paz is the small town called Copacabana. It lies on the edge of the largest lake in South America, Lake Titicaca which, were it not for its cold water, would be one hell of a place for water sports and partying.  Perhaps this is for the best as it is venerated for having a rich, ancient past and historical communities on the mainland and its islands.

I really needed to have a few days in a hotel after spending what feels like months in dorm rooms. My wish list has come true because for 5 GBP a night I have a large room with a view of the harbor boats on the lake, cable TV, WI-FI and a private bathroom with hot water. To be able to watch some French Open Tennis like this is bliss and the ESPN previews of Wimbledon catch me missing home somewhat. I really do miss playing tennis right now out here so I hope to be able to figure something out, preferably at sea level and not 4K metres high!

Small 40ft boats with Yamaha outboard motors ferry people to the Isla del Sol and its very relaxed and simple lifestyle. I now have a third object to carry – my Suzuki semi-acoustic, red sunburst guitar – which I manage to drop the first time due to my forgetting about having it one my person! My simple needs are satisfied yet again when I manage to find a room situated on a hill overlooking the expansive lake and some of the white-capped Andean mountain range beyond. It is the same range that I saw much closer up whilst trekking in Sorata a few weeks previously.

My room on the hill

My commitment to now carrying a guitar feels like a worthy one as I play and sing with others staying with me during the day, around the night camp fire, at the most happening (and only!) bar in the village and at the beach. It is a bit crazy to be playing Stairway to Heaven twenty odd years after first learning how to play this maligned song, but it seems to drop very easily out here, where any sort of live entertainment is gratefully received and praised. A great thing about being here is that I have found somewhere that for once, does not think that playing loud crap DJ music means that a good time can be had! (am I now sounding a bit old?!)  Hell, I am old! Do I really need to be the eldest person in a hostel bar?!

So, apart from the cold lake water and the energy sapping altitude, Lake T is a beautiful and grounding place to be. My mind is also taken back to the jungle town of Rurrenaque and how peaceful that place also was and how I feel I would like to go back there for more time, now with my guitar, picking away at nothing in particular tune as yet another one of those classic water sun sets happen one more time.