Copacabana and Isla del Sol
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Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca is apparently where the Incas are reputed to have arrived in South America. They do not know where they came from as they were a very developed Nation with a good infrastructure. The Incas were the High ranking officials but while they conquered they also allowed the Tiwanaku people to live and often allowed the chiefs to survive and help rule the communities. This is a stunning island with great views and a lovely three hour circular walk.The Carnival in Copacabana is a very local affair and starts slowly building up to a crescendo at the end of the night. I could hear the bands playing long after I went to bed.
The Cathedral is truly beautiful. It is dedicated to the Virgin and everyone goes up and stands in front of the statue of the Virgin and Jesus. The Virgin is famous because it is black and when the bus load of police arrived to control the Carnival crowds they all went first to the Cathedral to be blessed. It has an enormous gold altar piece. There is a very strange ceremony that happens most days outside the cathedral. A priest ´Blesses the Cars¨´ People line their cars up in a row and decorate them with flowers, and the priest comes along with a bucket of water and a cloth which he dips in his bucket of water then sprinkles the water around the car, in the engine and inside the car, and over the owners. Maybe the roads here need all the safety features they can get!
The Carnival can last as long as a month and it seemed that everywhere I went I bumped into a carnival for at least two weeks. I got carnivaled out if there is such a thing! It is a weird mix of Religion and Paganism.
