Copaca-bananas

"If you take any activity, any art, any discipline, any skill, take it and push it as far as it will go, push it beyond where it has ever gone before, push it to the wildest edge of edges, then you force it into the realm of magic."
- Tom Robbins

"Magic lives in curves, not angles."
- Mason Crouley

Magic lives in the curved winding roads that enlace the Bolivian shores of Lake Titicaca; magic lives in pushing a Yamaha DT-250 motorcycle to the wildest edge of edges along this mountainous meandering; magic lives in the ancient sparkling eyes of a Yumani woman selling bananas in the sunshine of Isla del Sol; magic lives around each of us, everywhere.

Today was a good day. After sedately paddling around the coastline yesterday in a kayak, this afternoon´s crazed motorcycle adventure was a welcome complement. Astride the steeled steed, I unleashed myself down the serpentine highway and random goat paths on the route between Copacabana and Yamputata (a village with lauches to Isla del Sol). Magic lives in motion.

By observing motion, Einstein learned that space and time are relative; by committing myself to motion, I´ve learned that one can alter reality by one´s perception of it.

Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) is the legendary creation site of the Inca and is the birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology. It was here that the bearded white god Viracocha and the first Incas, Manco Capac and his sister-wife Mama Huanca (or Mama Ocllo), made their mystical appearances. On the northern end of the island is the sacred rock from which Titicaca gets its Aymaran name - stone puma. Another cool name for a rock band.

Copacabana, Bolivia, should not be confused with the famous beach community in Rio de Janeiro or the Prohibition-era speakeasy in Manhattan. ´Copa´ is a smallish town on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, near the Peruvian border, known for its sensational views and glittering Moorish-style cathedral. It is neither literally nor figuratively the hottest spot north of Havana ... despite Señor Manilow´s lyrical assertion. It is, however, a beautiful and kooky little place.

My two-dollar-per-night rooftop-room at Residencial Solar is nestled amidst hills and overlooks the world´s highest navigable lake. There isn´t any shower (?) but they do provide their residents with free laundy detergent. Funky. Twice daily, in front of the cathedral, is the colorful Benediciones de Movilidades - the blessing of cars, trucks, and buses. If you ask politely, the priest will even bless your backpack and sandals. He might seem bewildered at the request, but he´ll do it. Quality pagan fun.

Entering Bolivia I was fortunate to receive an edition of their first tourist newspaper. It´s aim: To seduce the foreign visitors. Here are some excerpts, typos included ...

"When you are visiting the city and somebody approaches you with civillian clothes, carrying police credentials. Don´t believe them!, because they are thieves who use false documents and vehicles for stealing. In case of emergency, request help from policeman with green uniforms. If there aren´t any, scream to atrract the attention of people around you. Don´t give anybody your personal things (backpacks) for checking, they will try to steal you. If someone splashes you with chocolate or ahatever, and then he/she offers you a vey polite help, don´t accept, because he/she if thief."

"Welcome to Bolivia, a country where the tradition is not sought, but is found in each one of their corners. Considered as the ´cosmic synthesis of the world´, Bolivia is one of the eight countries with greater biodiversity of the planet. Altiplano, Amazonian jungle, high snowfall summits, valleys interandinos and cities that they are Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity put before his eyes, contrasts of a matchless beauty, under the cozy hospitality of their inhabitants."

Classic. I already love this country. Tomorrow afternoon I´ll be heading to La Paz, capital city of the cosmic synthesis of the world. Chocolate splashers beware.

- with a ta-ta to Titicaca ... your Andean amicus