the lake but we need to cross over to the other side in order to reach our destination.This is the scary part, we packed on this boat until the weight of the passengers lowers the boat to the maximum with out the waves splashing over. It is a short distance,
we can see the other side but about 3/4th of the way over, Iris decides to announce how there is no coast guard or lifeguards so if boats tip, usually the passengers all die (the lake is freezing). For a total of 8min. yes, I was a bit worried but I sang songs to ease the anxiety for us all ¨Jesus loves the little children¨- my personal favorite. On the other side we wait for our bus to cross the lake on a barge (sp?). Our bus makes it across safely and we proceed on to our destination. For about 20 minutes the bus is driving along side the edge of cliffs that overlook the lake... quite amazing and a little terrifying.
Woohoo we arrive on the other side of the pennisula- Hola Copacabana! (this is not the Copacabana 
which is sung about.. that is in Brazil). Interesting tourist town that holds a lot of tradition and culture. There is a beautiful church which is the center of the town. Not only do tourists come country to come be blessed here. They drive their brand new cars to the town, decorate them with all sorts of adornments and wait as a Priest blesses their car with safety and no problems. Beer is shaken up and poured all over and sometimes fireworks are lit in celebration of the blessing.
There is also a sacred walk up stone steps that eventually lead up a mountain which overlooks the lake. The walk is suppose to be one
of reflection and traditionally you are to carry a large stone representing your sin which you then discard when you reach the top. Along the trail are crosses and at the top are several large crosses with places to burn candleto see the famous site, but Bolivians travel from all over the s. Children sit at the
top for the entire day selling candles which are different colors representing different things 
such as health, wealth...We were planning on crossing the lake to visit the Isle de Sol, but the wind and wavy waters led to cancelation of all boat crossing. It is 1 1/2 hours across and on the same small, shaky boat as before so I was not terribly disapointed although I hear there are some interesting things on the island including Incan steps. We also found out that we were the last bus to be let across the lake due to the dangerous conditions. So no visiting the island this time around.
After an unevenful evening in our freezing, no water running hostel.. we ventured over to the market to an indoor hotspot where all the traditional breakfast goodies were cooking. It was
very crowded, but we managed to snag a table for the 7 of us. We drank Api (a traditional purple corn drink) and enjoyed a plate of fried dough topped with honey as well as a large puff like pastry that includes a tiny morsal of cheese in the center.After breakfast we found out that no boats were being allowed to cross the lake therefore we could not cross back over... hmm only one way out of this pennisula- PERU! So the plan emerged that we would cross over the Peruvian border only to cross right back into Bolivia and then proceed onto La Paz that way. However, 2 of the volunteers did not have their passports present so 4 of us ventured home, while Iris and the 2 gals stayed another night in Copacabana.
We begun our journey home at noon. We took a mini bus to the Bolivian border, filled out paper work at the immigration office had our passport stamped, walked across entered into another office filled out more paperwork and had our passport stamped again. We then took another mini bus to the 
Peru border where we filled out more paper work, had our passport stamped and walked across. We entered into the immigration office on the other side filled out our 4th and final paperwork and waited to have our passport 
stamped. BUT after looking at our passports, the police claimed they could not let us enter. Apparently one cannot leave and re-enter a country on the same day. The police wanted us to go back to Peru and spend a night there, but we had already had our departure stamp from Peru. So after my counterparts argued in Spanish and gave the ¨we have to be back so we can volunteer at the orphanage in the morning¨the police decided to stamp our passports and send us on our way.
After negotiating with a taxi driver, we were on our way back to La Paz! I was home sweet home in Sopocachi 5 hours later.
Dear Peru, I will see you again in 3 weeks, until then thank you for the short visit. (View of Lake Titicaca- The Pennisula on Bolivia´s border and Peru in the distance).
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