Waking up brusied and stiff after the bumpiest bus ride I have ever been on, we decide not to stay in La Paz, the highest capital city in the world. It raining and cold and we know that juat a few hours away by bus is the holiday town on Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Although technically in Bolivia, it is on what I would consider to be the Peruvian side of the lake - everyone has to get off the bus and on to a small wooden boat (the bus goes on a bigger in wooden boat). By land, the bus would have to cross an international border to get there.
Copacabana is most popular as base for visiting Isla Del Sol, an island on the south of the lake. The vehicle free island is home to 'traditional communities' and several pre Incan ruins. It takes two hours to reach from Copacabana. This is not because it is far away - I can see it from the top of the hills surrounding the town, but because the boat is very very slow.
Luckily the day Alex and I visit the island lives up to its name and the sun is out. Rocky and with just a few shrubs dotted around the island's charm is in its little hamlets containing goats, sheep, donkeys, pigs and llamas, and it's amazing views.
From the top of one of its hills I get a sense of just how vast Lake Titicaca is (8400-sq-km). I can see some of the southern shore line, but for the most part, if I didn't know I was looking at a lake I would think it was the sea. As we scramble across the northen tip of the island we're rewarded with views of crystal blue bays and white beaches. Its getting hot and they look very tempting, although I'm sure the water is freezing - at 3808 meters this is world's larget high altitude lake.
At the pre Incan ruins someone has set up their shop - selling llama hats, jewellery and violent yellow 'Inca Cola' - on the stone sacrifice table. I spend half an hour or so wandering around, but without a guide or any information the piles of stones mean little to me, but they do get me excited for Machu Picchu!
As we're so close to the border we decide to head to Peru, despite having spent only a week in Bolivia. I feel like time is quickly running out until my flight at the end of December, and I'm looking forward to wildlife, jungles, beaches and mountians. The border crossing, as usual, takes an unnecessary number of stamps but I'm still amazed at how I can pass a sign by the road and be in another country (no planes, no ferry, no channel tunnel). Of course the immediate country side in Peru is exactly the same as in Bolivia (desert), but on the bus to Arequipa, Peru's second city, I read my guide book and research jungle treks to Machu Picchu, expeditions down the Amazon and the best restaurants to try the local delicacy, guinea pig.
Copacabana is most popular as base for visiting Isla Del Sol, an island on the south of the lake. The vehicle free island is home to 'traditional communities' and several pre Incan ruins. It takes two hours to reach from Copacabana. This is not because it is far away - I can see it from the top of the hills surrounding the town, but because the boat is very very slow.
Luckily the day Alex and I visit the island lives up to its name and the sun is out. Rocky and with just a few shrubs dotted around the island's charm is in its little hamlets containing goats, sheep, donkeys, pigs and llamas, and it's amazing views.
From the top of one of its hills I get a sense of just how vast Lake Titicaca is (8400-sq-km). I can see some of the southern shore line, but for the most part, if I didn't know I was looking at a lake I would think it was the sea. As we scramble across the northen tip of the island we're rewarded with views of crystal blue bays and white beaches. Its getting hot and they look very tempting, although I'm sure the water is freezing - at 3808 meters this is world's larget high altitude lake.
At the pre Incan ruins someone has set up their shop - selling llama hats, jewellery and violent yellow 'Inca Cola' - on the stone sacrifice table. I spend half an hour or so wandering around, but without a guide or any information the piles of stones mean little to me, but they do get me excited for Machu Picchu!
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