COPACOBANA & ISLA DEL SOL

nice, but deinitely not the "hottest spot suth of Havana"

WHERE: COPACOBANA
WHERE (less detailed): about two hours west of La Pa. On the shores of Lake Titikaka and not far fom Peru
WEATHER IS: hot, but the altitude (3000m) means you're more concerned with catching your breathe than catching some sun.

bless me father for i have sinned. It's been three weeks since my last oil change

PEOPLE ARE: everywhere, as well as being the title to a very bad Barry Manilow song Copacobana is also the must-visit Easter Retreat destination for thousands of Bolivians. The town is packed with tents all along the beach and scruffy little kids running everywhere. According to locals any crime is caused by those pesky Peruvians who cross the border looking for trouble.
FOOD IS: Copacobana is yet another culinary desert ... while Paul enjoys a fantastic beef goulash Rhaani waits 40mins for a piece of cold chicken covered in congealed sauce...the next night we return to the same restaurant and Paul and Julie have cold beef goulash, Rhaani only has to wait a further 30mins for some more cold chicken.

stations of the cross at the top of the hill

HIGHTLIGHTS/LOWLIGHTS: ... turns out our 6:30am departure from La Paz isn't strictly true as we spend two hours driving around La Paz before leaving the city ... Rhaani and Julie nearly give themselves strokes walking up the town's big hill while Paul stays in the hostel trying to get Olympic tickets ...

Julie does her bit for the Easter Sunday celebrations by downing a bottle of the blood of christ

... Easter Sunday and the locals commemorate the rising of Christ by going to the Cathedral and having their cars, vans and lorries blessed by a priest - along with holy water and rose petals. Supposedly this is a much preferred alternative to car insurance ... a day trip on the slowest boat ever to Isla del Sol - according to the Inca's the birthplace of the sun but I'm almost certain that's not scientifically accurate ...

waiting for the downhill bit to begin

Julie's "downhill" walk turns out to be anything else as the girls' weary legs take another pounding up and down and up and down. The boat drops you off at the top of the island and you have 6hrs to walk 8km around the island and meet at the pick-up point in the south ... we visit Lonely Planet's top pick Burger joint where, twenty minutes after ordering a burger, we see a kitchen-hand climb on his motorbike and drive off. Fifteen minutes later he returns with a bagfull of burger patties. Five minutes later the same kitchen-hand gets back on his bike and drives off again. Ten minutes later he returns with a bag of hamburger buns. Paul's burger finally arrives, but not his chips... 

It might have been an ancient ceremonial table, but for us its the perfect spot for lunch

... Stranded in Copacobana? Yet another blockade - this time in Peru - means our 9am bus is cancelled and no-one is sure when the blockades will be lifted ... we decide to cover all bases and book tickets for the 6pm bus as well as booking a room at the hotel we just left for another night ... as luck would have it the 6pm bus is running and we're out of there ... Rhaani finally gets to use her well rehearsed "Ola banditos" line as renegade blockaders demand 1sole per passenger (23p) to let us through.

the girls at Chincan ruins

THINGS LOST: Julie gets off the mark when she leaves her sleeping bag on the bus.
UP NEXT: Peru, specifically Cusco, jump off point for the Inca Trail and the Machu Picchu ruins.