Down at the Copa…
After the hectic lifestyle of Peru, I’m now in Bolivia having a well-earned rest. I’m 8km over the border in Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca – a place guaranteed to induce giggles when I was a mature schoolboy. I’m still at altitude (3800m) but somehow it seems easier to cope with here. Maybe it’s simply acclimatisation. I’m in a hotel with a room overlooking the town and the lake and for £8 a night it’s the best value place I’ve found so far (La Cupula, if anyone’s interested). One of its many fantastic attractions is the use of a kitchen, meaning I cooked last night. An event of such overwhelming simplicity and joy that I can’t begin to convey. Just buying the ingredients (essentially they were free) and combining them into something I knew I would like is just a huge change from the slight hit-or-miss nature of constantly eating in restaurants. Not that it’s too bad doing that. I had a perfectly nice three-course meal for lunch today for less than two quid.
The lake is stunning when the sun comes out (it’s raining at the moment) and I plan to get out on to it when I can be bothered. For the minute I’m happy enjoying where I am and girding my loins for de facto capital in about a week. La Paz, by the way, stirs another schoolboy memory. Along with many people of my surname, Paz was my nickname at school and it was one of those places in geography books that I thought I must go to one day. And here we nearly are…
Sorry nothing more exciting to report. There is the ubiquitous presence of hippies, but I’m even cool about that here. The rains going off, so I’m off out,
Yours,
A resting traveller.
The next day
Er, it´s still raining. Hard. Perhaps this isn´t quite the Shangri La it appeared to be at first.
Tags: Travel
JohnnyBoy
January 13th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Oi JohnnyBoy how about a bit more visual stimulation? One or two snap shots of the landscape would make a nice contrast to the grotesque images on BB!
January 13th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
It’s January 13th, 2006 at 4:36pm
January 13th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
I dunno. Always bloody moaning. Some of us have got jobs. We’re the only ones who have time to leave messages.
“Music and passion are always the fashion”… Is that today’s song?
Paul will be 40 on 18th January. All comments welcome…
January 13th, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Hello Martin
Belated Happy New Year.
Fascinating reading!
Linds thrashed us all at Scrabble at Christmas.
Song for today–Barry Manilow- my favourite–Copacabana.
Luv,
Audrey
January 13th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
My favourite was always “One Voice”, brings me to tears. Reminds me of the singalongs we had at Christmas back home in Chester. Martin was always Barry, with us three as his backing singers. Had the voice of a nightingale, he did.
January 13th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
And hands off, it was my nickname, ask anybody in the Bear and Billet. You’ve got enough…
January 14th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Look, I never said that this was the song of the day – but it seems to have been hijacked into the arrangements. That is all very well, but I know that at least one person is making a CD of the tracks as they appear (all right Rob?), and I´m not sure it would be fair to have to put a Barry track in there amongst all the cool stuff (or is he one of those post-modern cool artistes now, slated to appear at Glastonbury next year?). If it carries on like this you´ll be wanting a Bolivia Newton-John track on next (ooh that made me laugh – to myself – in an internet cafe).
January 16th, 2006 at 5:50 am
Right then Rob. I fully expect to hear “Let’s get physical”, by the said Bolivia on the final burn, as this is track of the day, today (following Baz, ofcourse).
This album’s gonna be a corker…
January 17th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
No need for either track, thank you.
January 20th, 2006 at 11:51 am
Pity about the rain but that lake had to get started somehow…how about a photo or two?