Copacabana and Isla Del Sol

Trip Start Jan 26, 2000
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Trip End Jun 14, 2000


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Wednesday, May 24, 2000

Than afternoon we caught a bus to the small town of Copacabana, a picturesque town sat on the edge of Lake Titicaca. Titicaca was a fabulous dark blue and made a superb contrast to brown arid altiplano and the towering mountains of the Cordillera Real reaching up in the background. That evening we ate some of the trout which Lake Titicaca is famous for, I think there will be plenty more of it to come!
We woke early next day to complete a 4 hour walk to the town of Yampupata, it was a fabulous walk along the shores of the lake passing many farms and small fishing villages. We met a really interesting character on the way who gave us a trip in his Balsa boat.
These are boats are made entirely with reeds and are often on of the most popular images associated with the lake.
When we arrived in Yampupata we went down to the docks where we persuaded some local fishermen to row us across to Isla Del Sol in their tiny rowing boat. Isla Del Sol is famous amongst the Inca and Aymara people and is though to be the place where the sun was created and the place where Manco Capac was born, the first of all the Incas. We met 3 English girls on the way, Francis, Katrina and Claire and spent the night playing cards and eating trout in a hotel places right on a ridge which gave us excellent views of the sunset and sunrise.
The next day we completed a 3 hour walk to the north of the island, this walk gave us excellent views of the agricultural terracing with imposing Cordillera Real rising up over the lake.
On the north of the island we visited some interesting Inca ruins and a stone sacrificial table.
We arrived at the village of Challapampa, having an hour to kill before our boat arrived we decided to take a dip in the lake, all I can say is jumping in a lake at an altitude of 3800M and in an area where temperatures fall below freezing most nights is an invigorating experience.
Our boat passed Isla Del Luna, the place the Incas believe the moon was born on the way back to Copacabana. Here we visited Temple of the Virgins, a place Incas used to keep virgin girls for sacrifice to the lake, believe it or not girls made sure they lost their viginity pretty sharpish in those days! Back in Copacabana that night we went out for what can only be described as some exquisite trout stuffed with garlic and ham.
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