Photos

THE PLACE:
Copacabana is a paradisiac town along the southern shores of Lake Titicaca. This small and beautiful town is an almost obrigatory point of stop for anyone traviling from La Paz (Bolivia) to Cusco (Peru).

Many are the atrations at this wonderful place. Boats sail every day taking thousands of turists to visit the Isla del Sol and Isla the la Luna (Island of the Sun and Island of the Moon), where old pre-Incan ruins can be found.

In the town itself there is an atrration that no Trekker should miss. It is the Calvario Mount. It has that name because of the 14 stairs that lead to the top. Those stairs represent the 14 states of the Via Crucis.

But if you are really into an aventure try climbing it by the trail near the lake shores. Its gonna be a moderated diffuclt trek and the altitude isn't gonna help either. But it is worth the hard work. The calvario mount is famous for its breath taking sunsets and the wonderful view of the lake that it gives.

THE PHOTO:
Many could argue that a more traditional photo would fit TrekEarth better. But I honestly disagree. This photo (in my own opinion) captures perfectly the feeling of freedom and achivment that a Trekker would feel after climbing the Calvario. This is for me the photo of a Trekker, pure and simple. May people think that this is a image with a heavy use of Photoshop, but it isn't. What you see here came straight out of the camera, the colors and the shapes are all real, this as as close to reality as it gets. This is yet another self portait. After many trial and error photos I finaly found the perfect place for this, than I set the camera to timer and jumped right into the compostion.

CURIOUS AND USEFUL FACTS ABOUT COPACABANA AND THE CALVARIO MOUNT:

- Copacabana is and old pre-Spanish word, and it means something like: "too see the Lake". There could not have been a better name, that excalty what you will doing while staying in the wonderful town.

- The famous beach on Rio de Janeiro is named after this small bolivian city. It's because of the great similarity of the shape of both shores.

- Copacabana is a famous christian pilgrimage place. On top of the Calvario you can find many Christian Colonial Old constructions. And on the city itself you can find a gorgeous Cathedral.

- When going up on the Mount Calvario, be sure to bring a flashlight with you. After the sunset things get dark pretty fast.

- Go up by the trail and go down by the old stone colonial age stairs. That's the best advice I can give to anyone looking for a great adventure.



(P.S: Sorry for any orthographic or grammatical errors. English is not my main language).