Day 95: Isla del Sol & Copacabana to La Paz - Thursday February 10, 2011

Our indigenous guide’s discussion of the Catholic Church’s take over of the society was the most interesting part of the visit. First, the island had a small pre-Incan temple to the sun that still stands and has been put back into service. The 3 steps in the Andes iconography refelect the 3 levels of existence and 3 commandments: 1. Don’t lie, 2. Don’t be lazy, and 3. Don’t steal. The 3 pattern is also reflected in the canals that tap spring water and transfer it to the community. It is ominous that the ‘don’t lie’ channel is running very low.

Juanito discussed with some bitterness that 8 million indigenous died enslaved by the Spanish in the Potosi silver mines. Their families and animals were held hostage while they served 3 months a year [same as the Inca tax] carrying pinewood to melt the extract and to dig the mines. Until the early 1950’s the indigenous could not own land and the Catholic priests had a 15 day right of signorny. He was very proud Evo Morales is the first indigenous to be president since the conquest. There is a referendum on whether anyone can own more than 10,000 hectares and even with that much, they must actively use the property. We had considerable discussion of the current volatile situation.

The indigenous courtship pattern was also interesting. After approval of the parents and acceptance of community responsibilities, the prospective bride and groom move-in together for a trial marriage of 7-12 months. After that there is no divorce and if a child is on the way during the trial, the marriage is fixed. If there is marital disharmony, the couple go to the “godfather” for counsel. If the discord goes beyond that, they are both beaten in front of the entire community.

On the way to La Paz, we took a primitive one car “ferry’ from the peninsula to the mainland. We were hoping that the 25hp outboard motor wouldn’t die and the rickety boat wouldn’t sink.

Just before La Paz, as the Altiplano drops into the La Paz valley, the main road had a turn off to an “Autopista” with no further signage. We stayed straight and ended up in downtown Los Altos rush hour – Yiikes! After 40 minutes to travel 8 blocks to get on the Autopista we entered the La Paz valley. It was rush hour but we had little difficulty finding our hotel. This was Justin’s trial by fire as a South America driver.

We have 2 lovely apartments on top of La Paz’s premier French restaurant. The food is terrific. The chef had spent 7 years in San Francisco so he was very happy to spend time with us. We were very tired at the end of the day so early to bed.

Correction: The hippies in Copacabana are from Argentina.