Day 103: Copacabana, Bolivia

Let`s just get something straight here: a piece of bread is most certainly NOT breakfast, no matter how many flavors of marmelade you serve with it. So imagine our delight when we stumbled upon a little hole in the wall place  you can`t really call a cafe and can`t really call a snack stand that serves salteñas! And what, you might ask, is a salteña?

saltena

Well, it is in fact a very hearty, compact little breakfast that tricks you into thinking you can eat 2 but really you only want 1 because they`re surprisingly filling and delicious. They`re made of a bread very much like a sweet cornbread in a triangular sort of shape with a blackened ridge across the top. What secrets lie inside? They are filled with either chicken or beef, potatoes, and an unidentifiable broth-like juice that makes a hugely annoying mess once the eater reaches a certain number of bites.  After happily scooping up the fallen juice on your plate and making sure to leave no crumb behind, you will find yourself pleasantly full and reaching for your…Coca Cola. Oh yes, salteñas are a special thing that must not be muddled with coffee or milk or juice! Although admittedly, Fresca goes pretty well for quenching salteña-induced thirst even better than Coke but you be your own judge!

With bellies filled with the best breakfast we`ve had in weeks (did we mention that breakfast doesn`t exist in Brazil?), we finally hopped our bus to Copacabana.

View of La Paz from the bus

Not knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised to find a quiet town sweeping over and across hills with cobbled streets and paddle boats for rent bobbing gently in the lake waiting to catch the eye of a passerby young at heart.

Down the main street in Copacabana

Once we had set down our packs for the night, we dined on a fabulous 3-course meal all for less than $3/person! What a great (rare!) day for food!!

Saben dining on Llama and Fries

Then we strolled around the streets until dark, taking in the views of Lake Titicaca at dusk.

Lake Titicaca at night