Days 210 & 211 - Monday 17th & Tuesday 18th April 2006

I got up early to watch Spurs and Man Utd, but wish I hadn’t bothered. Afterwards got to take the piss out of the Swedes who had left the following day but had to return as they had no money and there were no ATM’s in Copacabana. After the football we all packed up and caught a bus to Lago Titicaca, the highest lake in the world.

We arrived in the late afternoon, just in time to watch the sun set over the lake, whilst enjoying a waterfront beer. Once the sun had set we made a quick retreat back to our hotel to put on more clothes as the temperature dipped pretty sharpish and we were only in shorts and t-shirts! It just happened to be the night of another 21st birthday in the group, this time it was the turn of Jens.

To warm up the evening we polished off a few bottles of rum. That sort of warmed me and and finished me off, I wasn’t feeling too great and retired to bed. The other lads went out until the wee small hours but I cried off. Poor form really.

On a plus point my early night allowed me to enjoy an early morning. I woke up bright and early with the intention of visiting the Isla del Sol but was told that if I wanted to do a tour I would spend 3 hours on a boat for the sake of 1 hour on the island, which din’t really appeal so I decided to do other things instead.

One such thing was the climb to Cerro Calvario, a mound which rose steeply to the north side of town. At the summit of the mound lies a stone altar, upon which pilgrims light candles and burn offerings in the hope their prayers will be answered. As the previous weekend had been Easter, the town had been packed with worshippers all coming to say their prayers at the altar. These pilgrims had certainly left their mark on the trail - it was littered with plastic bags, bottles and other rubbish. Obviously these worshippers were so wrapped up in their prayers that they couldn’t carry their empties packets and bottle back down the hill. But of course they were able to take time out of said prayers to eat their crisps and drink their coke!

The most interesting thing about the pilgrimage was the way in which they asked for what they wanted. They decided what was their innermost desire, went to the shop, bought a minature model of that item, carried it up the hill and left it on the altar. Which meant there were minature cars, houses. horses and some cheeky buggers even brought minature wads of banknotes!

Of course the alter afforded some wonderful views out over the highest lake in the world, and of Copacabana, the one of the towns that lie on its shores.