Copacabana – Beautiful yet ever so stupid

It’s been a while since I’ve been to such a beautiful place which also had the ability to drive me absolutely balmy! The town itself and surrounds look stunning but the systems and processes of communication and exchange, are somewhat lacking.

Copacacrappa, as my friend has now donned it, sits between Puno in Peru and La Paz in Bolivia and rests upon the awe inspiring Lake Titikaka. Despite stunning blue waters that sparkle under the sun, my blood was boiling and frustrations ever increasing.

The local people have taken on the guise of assisting tourists yet it appears to be a love/ hate relationship. They would like your money yet do not wish to provide you with service or hospitality. Ok no I am being harsh, we had 2 beautiful caballeros in 2 different restaurants who once we had already been placed into a pickle by someone else, managed to provide us with correct information to resolve said issues. However, I feel that these issues or discrepancies should never have arisen had the people in question provided adequate information in the first place and not taken on the “need to know” basis policy.

Trying to buy a bus ticket out of town included 2 hours of walking back and forth between shops, googling forums on Lonely Planet to find out we would need to cross a lake, purchasing a ticket at an escalated price only to not actually have a ticket and need to run back to the original store. It seems these mis-communications and lapses in exchange are a frequent occurrence.

So excuse the language but Copacabana, get your shit sorted!

Despite all this – I probably would visit again as it is the gateway to the incredible Isla Del Sol aka Paradise of Bolivia.