Her Name was Lola …

This weekend, we said goodbye to La Paz and headed to Copacabana and Lake Titicaca! We left Friday afternoon in our private minivan and drove 3 hours through the beautiful Bolivian countryside to Copacabana, a small town on the coast of Lake Titicaca. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking!! The countryside consists of large rolling hills, but because of the altitude, there is not much greenery. The hills are brown and the soil appears very dry, but apparently this is the perfect climate to grow lots of different species of yummy potatoes! In the distance beyond the hills, huge, gorgeous snowcapped mountains rise out of nowhere, which makes the climate here a bit perplexing … during the day, we walk around in t-shirts, get a little sunburnt, but if we look up, snow covered mountains are not too far off in the distance. Then once the sun sets, it’s time to break out the scarves, hats, gloves, and llama sweaters!

Anyway, after driving for a few hours and taking a ferry across Lake Titicaca, we finally arrived in Copacabana, just in time to see the sunset! Unlike the song, Copacabana is actually a small, sleepy, religious town on the coast of the gorgeous Lake Titicaca. Before dinner, we walked around the town and had some traditional Bolivian treats – Api and Bunuello. Api is a hot, thick, sweet, purple drink made from corn. The taste of Api is reminiscent of hot apple cider with a starchy texture of thin yogurt. Bunuello is a cross between a zeppole and a doughnut, drizzled with a sweet honey-like glaze – sooo delicious!

After our pre-dinner treat, we headed back to Hotel Gloria and had a relaxing evening of dinner, wine, and stunning views of the lake. Tired from our travels, we hit the sack pretty early and rested up for our next adventures …