Copacabana, Bolivia & Peru

Copacabana, the quiet town that was our launching pad for Isla de Sol, is a great place. Every afternoon in front of the cathedral they have a Benedicion de Movilidades. Basically the people park their cars in front of the cathedral and proceed to decorate the heck out of them with fresh flowers and tacky religious icons conveniently for sale everywhere. A nun then came out with a bucket of holy water and blessed the entire the family before walking around the car a few times dousing it with the aforementioned agua santa. She even opened the car door and splashed some on the steering wheel. Then the men took turns spraying beer like it was champagne all over the car and then they drank the beer. I couldn´t make this up. The whole event was like a Holy Communion or something in that the entire extended family was there, tossing flower petals, getting blessed, drinking, and posing for the professional photographer who was documenting the entire spectacle. It was utterly fantastic.

I left Bolivia for Puno, Peru where I saw their Lake Titicaca islas. The reed islands were interesting, they are truly made entirely out of reeds, but more touristy than anything, and Taquile couldn´t hold a candle to Isla de Sol. Bolivia wins in the Lake Titicaca Isla Showdown.