Lake Titicaca and Isla Del Sol

Having been in Peru a few times previously, Lake Titicaca was the only place left on Andrea’s “must see” list – lots of other “nice to see” places but for some reason, this has always been a real draw for her. It was a beautiful (and blessedly short) bus ride from La Paz to Copacabana - at one point, everyone has to get off the bus and board a small wooden boat to cross the narrow Straits of Tiquina while the bus is ferried across on a small barge. The Strait actually connects two lakes (Lago Mayor and Lago Menor) which together comprise Lake Titicaca (not the most direct route but it keeps the bus and tourist dollars in Bolivia). The total size of Lake Titicaca is over 8,500 km2 and is absolutely breath-taking. The color of the lake, the size, and the scenery are all spectacular.

“The Book” advises readers to stay in Copacabana for a couple of days and then head over to Isla Del Sol for one night “to watch the sunset”. Copacabana has a hostel and/or tour agent every 30 steps, late night bars, and restaurants advertising “apple pie” and “satellite TV” for the regulars of the gringo trail. Isla del Sol is a little different…

We opted to skip the overnight in Copacabana and instead caught one of the small boats that ferry tourists over to Isla Del Sol – a slow 2 hour ride. You could almost convince yourself that you were crossing the Georgia Strait from Vancouver Island to the mainland, believing that the distant cordillera were the Coastal Range. You could almost fool yourself that is, until you took a couple of steps; at an altitude of 3800m your body quickly reminds you that you are not at sea level!

We got off at the south end of the island and were surprised to see so many people and what was obviously some sort of celebration. It turns out that Evo Morales – the President of Bolivia - had made his first ever visit to Isla Del Sol earlier that day. Unfortunately, because there are limited accommodation options on the island and we are too old to share a dorm room with 10 other tourists younger than our children, we didn’t stick around to enjoy the festivities. Instead we hauled our oxygen depleted bodies along with all of our gear up the Inca Staircase from the dock to the actual village.

After “a few” stops, lungs still burning, we completed the 200m + ascent up the stairs and found a room for the night. After we got settled (really reads “caught our breath and dumped our gear”) we went exploring, watched the sunset and had dinner at a tiny restaurant that advertised “romantic candle-lit dinners”. It was candle-lit alright because they had no electricity! The challenge was finding our way back to our hotel after dinner in the pitch black – we just plain forget that street lights or even electricity to houses which can provide some illumination is not standard. Note to self – start carrying our headlights after dark.

Anyway, the next day we moved to a different hostel just outside of the village along the trail to the north end of the island – we were the only guests. It was situated at the very top of the hill and had such a beautiful view. It was so peaceful that we stayed a second night there before returning to the mainland. It takes 5 – 6 hrs to walk from the south end of the island to the north end and back, the view is beautiful and there are a number of Inca ruins to explore including the legendary birthplace of Manco Capac (the first Inca) and the sun itself.

After leaving Lake Titicaca, we headed north…way north. As mentioned above, because we had visited Peru a couple of times previously, we had already visited most of central and southern Peru. So, after only 47 hours, including a 5 hour layover and break for dinner and drinks at Tony Roma’s in beautiful Miraflores, Lima…not a gringo in site…only wealthy Lima residents – we arrived in Huanchaco in northeast Peru...