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Copacabana, Bolivia - Well, The Hotel Is Nice |
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Monday, May 29, 2006 There's not much going on in Copacabana, really. The lake looks beautiful from our big windows but on the shore, not so much. There's a lot of trash along the waterfront, and it smells like poo. I can't say whether it's dog or human or the llamas that folks have out there for tourists to take photos with, but it's definitely poo. And we can't really walk down there in peace. Everyone wants us to rent a pedalboat, or come to their restaurant and eat trucha (trout). Trucha is a major thing here. It's farmed in the lake, and sold with twenty different sauces at every single restaurant in town. The town is small and nice enough but not terribly exceptional. Warm in the daytime but with a chilly edge that makes me keep my fleece with me at all times. I just don't have many thoughts or feelings about the place, other than loving our room at Los Andes. There is no ATM in town, but we changed some dollars for bolivianos at a money-changer for a decent rate. The major attraction here besides the lake is Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun). The island features in Inca cosmology as the birthplace of the sun and there are some Inca ruins there, and little villages. But when we saw a poster advertising three-times daily group tours to "untouched" villages, my skin crawled remembering the Floating Islands of the Uros and I really didn't want to go. Michael stopped some gringos in the street and asked how they liked Isla del Sol. The response was pretty much "ehh" and one girl said she was "underwhelmed." So we decided to skip it even though it's immensely popular. We are really beginning to feel the time crunch now and would rather just move on to things we've been dreaming of seeing. (Salar de Uyuni!) Our hotel manager, David, simply can't believe we aren't going to Isla del Sol and made us repeat it a couple of times, like he thought maybe it was a language issue. Nope, just plain not going. We asked around at the bus area (there is no station really, just the one street where all the busses hang around) and found out about busses to La Paz. It's only a three-hour ride and we're probably going to head over there tomorrow. Oh, and we heard from Ben and the Belgians... they ran into each other and are now traveling together. We feel like regular little matchmakers. ¡OJO! Let me bend the Megan Blogtime (thanks to Molly for the phrase) and announce that I have recently (July 3) had my first interview as a writer. A website called Traveler's Pen, designed for the beginning travel writer, interviewed me for their "My Beginning" feature. The site is full of tips and advice for the budding travel writer and includes interviews with more established travel writers like David Farley as well. And there is now a forum! So check it out, por favor.    21 comments so far | Post a comment
Sunday, July 23, 2006 | Ev said...A tip Megan: learn to experience the world and, most importantly, how to write BEFORE calling yourself a travel writer... Sunday, July 23, 2006 | funchilde said... i'm sorry, i have started and stopped this comment 5x already. W(ho)TF is Ev? Why is that comment making me angry? Sunday, July 23, 2006 | Terence said... Again, the blog is not the "writing." It's funny how people make that mistake. But I suppose it's more fun to snipe at people from behind an anonymous "Ev" or "Editor" than to actually be, oh I don't know, civil? A tip Ev: nobody likes an assclown. Here I was going make a stupid joke about "the hottest spot south of Havana" Sunday, July 23, 2006 | Billieboy said... I agree 100% with what Terence said! Well done kid! Sunday, July 23, 2006 | Cecili said... Whoa! I'm with funchilde. Too angry to type. If Ev don't like the blog, they can get off and wait for the book. If they still don't like it at least they paid for it. Yo Megan, totally creeped by the boy scout potato with the needle. Monday, July 24, 2006 | molly said... first and foremost: CONGRATS on your interview!!! they know good stuff when they read it... second: "potato with the needle" is just plain disturbing. third: well, this one would be directed toward "Ev", but i don't feel like wasting my finger strength on bad vibes. can't wait for the next post. keep em' coming girl! you rock, megan. love to mike. be safe... XOXO Monday, July 24, 2006 | Dave C. said... Yes, I'm sure that creature in the last photo is just an anthropomorphized potato, even if it looks like a giant zombified glob of poo! Monday, July 24, 2006 | Ev said... Whoops! My apologies, Megan, there was meant to be more to my post than that (just love computers sometimes…) - I did want to comment on the travel writer/blog thing, and not in the most supportive way, but I certainly didn’t want it to come out as harsh as that comment looks. I do see a blog as something very removed from being a writer, but that is just my opinion and I think I’ll just put that opinion back in its hole where it belongs. The one opinion I will offer is that, for mine, travel and literature are two of the most amazing gifts we have and your approach seems to inspire a number of people - well done and keep it up. Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | Michael said... dude, what the hell are you talking about? I mean really, get your shit together before dropping a bunch of half retarded insults on someone's blog. Both of your comments make zero sense to me. Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | Megan Lyles said... More to the point, are we sure that maniacal thing is a potato? It could be a peanut, or a bean. I would think a bean would be more likely to give innoculations than a potato. And did anyone notice the sideburns on that baby?? Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | sara said... Ev - your comments make no sense to me either. Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | Michael said... it could also be a cheeto? Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | Megan said... I hope it's not a Cheeto... the Cheetos down here are terrible. Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | Rene' said... Hey Megan I dropped you a line once before, I have continued to follow along. I enjoy your writings, and I laugh at the way you gripe about the perils of the trip. Everybody is not going to enjoy or read what you write, but then again we are not concerned with that select group. Are we? Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | Ev said... Don’t want to get into a flaming match here. I’ll post this and then I’m out of here. I messed up. I simply went to post an opinion (when you Blog on the net you open yourself to opinions from all) about travel writing and bloging – for a reason known only to my computer, only one phrase of that post actually posted. That phrase, when viewed out of context, carried much more negative connotations than I wanted to convey – I’m not into heaping out insults. I was hoping for an open exchange on travel writing and blogging, but as it took me a day or two to get back to the post, the damage was done. I figured it was pointless trying to go further with that opinion (hence my last post attempting, obviously not very well, to explain what happened and to attempt to leave on a positive note) as my name here was now mud as that phrase had obviously, and fairly rightly, boiled some peoples blood. Enjoy yourselves, folks. Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | the dad said... Megan-you have the ability to erase Evs comments, he/she is wasting my time....Ev..if it takes three times to explain yourself then you must get you jollies about seeing yourself so much in print, grow and buy a mirror. Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | funchilde said... Ev: I commend you for trying to re-phrase your point. I hope you continue to enjoy the journey with the rest of us. We are all a little "protective" here so you have to keep that in mind. Tuesday, August 1, 2006 | Mary Simon said... This blog is like a damn soap opera. "Next week on Megans blog"..... Wednesday, August 2, 2006 | Michael Simon said... Next week on Megans Blog: Lesbian Bolivian Grandmothers! Thursday, August 27, 2009 | club penguin cheats said... Too angry to type. If Ev don't like the blog, they can get off and wait for the book. If they still don't like it at least they paid for it. Wednesday, January 6, 2010 | Dertye said... Next week on Megans Blog: Lesbian Bolivian Grandmothers! watch the book of eli online | watch the spy next door online | watch extraordinary measures online |watch legion online | watch tooth fairy online | watch edge of darkness online | watch when in rome online
|  Sunset on Lake Titicaca, view from Copacabana.  Streets of Copacabana.  Many trucha options, Copacabana.  There is a cheerful little mural near the bus area encouraging vaccination. Most of it was normal, but this segment freaked me out... a lot. What is that thing with the needle?? Copacabana.
Megan Lyles is a native New Yorker who has also lived in San Francisco. Having already traveled in Eastern and Western Europe, India, Thailand, and the U.S., she is now tackling a one-year bus trip from New York City to the tip of South America with photographer Michael Simon and doing freelance work along the way. She has a degree in social work from NYU and types 85 words per minute. More about Megan. Links Michael's photo blog. My interview on Traveler's Pen. Traveler's Pen Home |
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