LAGO TITICACA - COPACABANA AND LA ISLA DEL SOL

6. June – 7. June 2011

After crossing the border to Bolivia our first stop was Copacabana at Lago Titicaca. After finding a hostel, the first task was to buy sweaters, hats and gloves. It was cold in Copacabana and even in the hostel room it was not comfortable. As we found out later this was true for most places in Bolivia.
Around the central plaza in Copacabana was a parade with many women in traditional dresses and a few men. It was interesting to watch. It must have been a local holiday since later on lots of people were drinking in restaurants and at the street and dancing. After lunch near the “beach” down at the lake we decided to climb the little hill - Mount Calvario. The trail wasn't very long but walking uphill at almost 4000 m was still exhausting and took quite a while. The view from up there was great and worth the pain.
The next day we wanted to go to Isla del Sol (Island of sun) in Lago Titicaca. Unfortunately we got to the pier ten minutes too late and missed the boat. And there are only two boats daily. So, after waiting a couple of hours we went to the island in the afternoon. The boat was extremely slow (and uncomfortable) but the landscape beautiful. Arriving at the island we had to walk uphill to get to the hostel. Again, it wasn't far but here it was exhausting. Luckily we only took a small backpack for the one night stay. We stayed at one of the many small hostels and got a room with great view over the lake with view of the Andean mountains on the other side. We went for a little walk but didn't have enough time (nor energy) to get to the Inca ruins on the island.
In the morning we could watch the sunrise directly from the bed. This was especially nice because it was extremely cold at night and leaving the bed to watch the sunrise would not have been an option. And the sunrise was lovely.
We took the ferry back to Copacabana in the morning and this time it was even slower than the day before. In Copacabana we had lunch before taking the bus to La Paz.