To Lake Titicaca, Isle de Sol & a new border...
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2008
1
21
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Trip End
Mar 19, 2009
Copacabana,
Bolivia
Sunday, March 2, 2008
After eventually getting there we checked into our cheapest accommodation yet for the trip....as it turned out it was also the smelliest!!! We walked down to the edge of the lake when the sun was low in the sky and it really was picture perfect.
down at the copa.. copacabana
The lake is truly so big it is like a sea and if it wasn't for the swan paddle boats lined against the shore it would have been a very romantic sunset. We thought about stopping at one of the many beer stalls for a cheap beer but we try to make it a rule that the beer should be colder then we are so opted for a coffee and hot chocolate instead.The next day we headed out to the Island of the Sun which is about 2 hours boat ride from the shore. The island had some more Inca ruins but for us doing the trek from the north to the south the scenery was the highlight of the day. After being dropped off we skipped the Spanish only guided tour and went straight for the path. It was truly beautiful and we had a great time walking up to the first ruins that kick arse on the ones seen the previous day. Then we started on the trek through the middle of the island following the mountain ridge. Like most paths in Bolivia the path only seemed to go upwards just at various steepness. Still the views more then made up for this and we had a great time looking over the lake. The only trouble was that every time we thought we got to the highest point the path just still went up!!! After a while was started wondering if we were going to make the 4pm boat back and started to up the pace but the path kept climbing and at still high altitude the going was pretty tough. At about 3pm we spotted the village which gave us some hope but we had only climbed up and were still high above the lake. By the time we started walking through the town we were exhausted (it had been years since either of us had done something like that) but with ten minutes to the coat left it kept us going.
down at the copa.. copacabana
By now we had started to wish we had left our luggage in storage at the hotel so we had a contingency plan to stay over on the island if needed. It really was a race against time and as the path started to decent we saw the boat passengers starting to come the other way....this gave us some hope that we could still make it. We pushed on and eventually made the top of the tall stairs leading down to the lake shore....only to see the last boat pull away from the dock. That was a real kick in the guts and the only thing that kept us going had just evaporated.....I felt totally defeated but as we had got this far we thought we would head down on the off chance that there was a later boat. I went ahead of Leonie to try and have a look knowing that all the hotels were at the top and it would be a hell of a long way to walk back. Poor Leonie with her little legs had to manage the giant steps be herself but luckily the friendly local ladies lent a hand when need. At the bottom our luck was out....no more boats were heading to the mainland and we were stuck. We sat on the sure trying to work out what the hell we were going to do!!! Well what else do you do if your stuck on a island in the middle of Lake Titicaca.....well of course we charted a local vessel!!!!! So after negotiating the price we set sail back to the main land in our very own boat. The trip as incredible and if the captain had a Esky full of ice cold beer I would have thought I'd died and gone to heaven!!! The weather was perfect and has we stretched out for the ride feeling the sun on other face it was the best.The Bolivian side of the lake had been fantastic even if the events were a bit serial!!! Tomorrow we were heading around the lake to a new country. Bolivia has been a real pleasure but the Peruvian side awaited us.
