Lago Titicaca, Bolivia & Peru

On our last day in La Paz we got up early and coincidently met up with Anja and Eliza again. Then we took a bus out of the "colloseum" of La Paz towards Lago Titicaca. The place where we spent our first night was called Copacabana and ressembled its famous duplicate in Brazil a little. The main difference was of course the huge crystal clear sweet water lake located at an elevation of 4000 m.

We strolled through the pleasant village and hiked up the local monte calvario for the sunset.

I have never seen equally many sunsets and sunrises as during this trip. My Mum told me a nice quote by a famous politician: "If I could live my life again, I would spend more time playing with children, get up for every sunrise, and stay awake for every sunset."

Somehow each of the sunsets of my trip was just picture perfect, also this one. But how can there be a anything else than a beautiful sunset when you have this scenery?

After witnessing this incredible sunset and after making our way back to the valley in the darkness

we went for some local Lago Titicaca trucha, the best trout of my life, together with a fine bottle of Casillero del Diablo's cabernet sauvignon, aged two years in oak :)

The next day we left the best hostal I ever slept in this trip

and got on small boats which brought us to the Isla del Sol. There's no need to translate this name, I guess. The Isla del Sol is in the Inca's belief the birthplace of mankind and is also one of the natural highlights of Bolivia...

So it's not hard to imagine that the Isla del Sol is an equally beautiful and spiritual place, a rocky island with sparse vegetation in the middle of a deep blue lake and the white mountains in the Cordillera Real in the background.

We took a basic hostel in the north of the island, located on a narrow tongue of land with sandy beaches at both sides (do not forget the elevation of 4000 m!). Then we left the small town (about 20 houses) and started to hike along the island.

If you didn't know that we are in the middle of a huge sweet water lake at 4000 m, you would think we're on some Aegean island, right?

We stumbled over some ancient Inca ruins, where we were more or less completely alone, besides some llamas and donkeys.

What a marvellous place: the blue lake, the rocky island, the white mountains, and the ruinas!

Actually this is a really spiritual and meditative spot, but, with all my left-over activity, I couldn't stand still and just had to perform some monkey activities in the ruins :) Zoom in!

My mother, on the other hand, really enjoyed the calmness, the clean air, and the mystic aura of the Isla del Sol:

But we also passed some nice sand stone boulders, where I could empty my tank of overflowing energy. But I have to admit that I have never climbed at such a scenic place:

We continued hiking through this beautiful scenery and met nothing but donkeys and llamas, right Mum?

Either I got overwhelmed by the beauty and spirituality of the Isla del Sol or I just had a sunstroke...

but I definitley needed something to drink, such as a clod beer ;)

In the late evening, we hiked back to our little fishing village and enjoyed the amazing scenery of the Isla del Sol in the last sunrays high above the Lago Titicaca.

If I could express the special atmosphere of the Isla del Sol in one picture, soaked with spirituality, thrilled by the beautiful nature of the place, and filled by the friendly people... all in one picture, then it would be this one:

Magnify the picture and let it affect you. Don't you wanna be there, right now?

Unfortunately, we had to leave this beautiful place the next day. We cruised back to Copacabana and got on a bus that brought us to the Peruian side of Lago Titicaca.

We got off the bus in Puno, Peru. As usual, the first thing to do when entering a new village is to hike on the local mountain and enjoy the view from there. And, as you can imagine, there is no bad view at Lago Titicaca:

We had half a day in Puno, which we spent by walking around town, enjoying the Andean-Baroque architecture,

discovering funny condor monuments,

and going out for fine Peruian food, especially palta (avocado).

What is there much to say? We had three amazing days at Lago Titicaca and are now ready the enter the Quechuan culture (heirs of the Inca) of Peru. Our next stop is Cuzco, the ancient Inca capital. I expect it to be amazing and bustling with Western tourists. We definitely will not be the only the only gringos as guests in a mentally and physically unspoilt environment, as at Lago Titicaca.

But we will see...

¡Adios muchachos!

Flo