Lake Titicaca – Isla del Sol

After our refreshing time in Corico we had a few days in La Paz before heading off to Lake Titicaca. Travellers and guide books alike indicate that the Bolivian side of the lake is much more pleasant and authentic than the Peruvian side, so Bernard and I headed to the magnificent Isla del Sol for two nights. And, much to our delight when having lunch waiting for the ferry to the island we bumped into five different people we knew. We were a merry bunch having lunch that day. In particular we caught up with a lovely English/German couple and proceeded to spend the next 10 days travelling the same path.

Isla del Sol is just lovely. The villages are still small and many hostels/restaurants are run by families. We arrived at the south island with our daypacks and full backpacks and were greeted by the Inca Stairs – we had to clime nearly 200 metres up to the villiage, normally a 20 minute walk, but we took a lot longer at 3800m, mostly because I couldn't climb 10m before getting completely out of breath. After lots of touting and a frustrating experience of searching for a place to stay, we ended up at a lovely family run hotel/hostel. Rooms were refreshingly cold at night (!), but clean and comfortable. The view of the Llampu mountain range from our bedroom window was just lovely. That night we had dinner and a little pizza place. We were the sole customers, and the whole family was involved. The elder boy even sat down at the table beside us to do his homework while we were eating. We were touched by a wonderful evening with such a shy and humble family.

The next day we set out to do the 3 hour walk from the south of the island to the north. Views were spectacular and I was surprised to see a few species of Eucalyptus growing so well at 4000m. We wondered around some Inca ruins then had lunch at this little beach village. Ask Bernard about his interesting lasagne – there's a picture on his webpage – what a interesting variation it was. I was exhausted by this point and feeling rather unwell so paid for a private boat to take be back to the south whilst Bernard made the long walk back. That night I had a bit of a fever – either from a cold or from altitude. Didn't eat much for the next few days but with lots of coca tea and soup I seemed to recover quickly enough. Overall the experience at Isla del sol was just wonderful.