Copacabana and Isla del Sol were the last stops in our tour of Bolivia, and possibly the most beautiful - a great sendoff from a country that has given us both so much.
The bus trip was fairly scenic and at one point we had to hop off the bus while it was taken across the a lake by barge as we followed in a motorboat. Otherwise the journey was pleasantly uneventful - which made a nice change after our previous buses.
Once in Copacabana we looked for a Hostel and settled on one with a great view overlooking Lake Titicaca, before spending the afternoon looking around town and capturing some pictures of the sunset.
The following day and we splashed out with some retail therapy, buying some things for ourselves and some gifts for family. We even ventured out onto the lake on a peddle boat for some pictures looking back on the town, but generally just spent the day relaxing in what must be the most touristy place we encountered in all of Bolivia.
Day Three and our trip to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun, and birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology) began - first up was a 17km walk to Yampupata on the shore of Lake Titicaca (Yampupata being the closest settlement to the Island) to catch a boat to the island (Tip: generally people just catch a boat direct from Copacabana direct - but the views on this walk make the extra effort well worthwhile if you have the time).
The walk was interesting and along the way we saw the Virgin in a Cave, several trout farms and some interesting villages, although we have to admit we didn't actually walk the whole way because we bumped into a man along the way who offered to take us to the island himself (saving about an hours walk). The man (Hilario Paye) is well known to travellers features in the Lonely Planet and quickly presented us a collection of postcards (including a few NZ ones) from many travellers he has ferried to the island previously, although he no longer has the reed boat mentioned in the guidebook.
The boat we boarded was not much more than a tin dinghy with no oars or life jackets and a single 25hp engine... needless to say it was definitely good there was little wind.
Once on the southern end of the island we climbed the Inca Staircase to the village of Yumani which when combined with an altitude in excess of 4000masl proved testing...(for those that know Kim well, you can read between the lines here!)
From the village we headed south to check out the old Inca ruins at Piko Kaina before returning to the village for a beer and the sunset. Nighttime on the island was spectacular as the day trip tourists departed and the island plunged into silence (except the occasional donkey).
In the morning we set off for for the northern end of the island which is home to the Chincana Inca Ruins which is the site of the sacred rock where the Inca creation legend began, these ruins were more spectacular than those of the previous day and capped off a picturesque walk along the ridge line. After the ruins we visited the Rock of the Puma before heading to Cha'llapampa which is the islands major northern village for a boat back to Copacabana.
This time we caught a larger boat back to the mainland, which although beautiful was fairly slow (the boat was about 45 feet long, had about 40 passengers and was powered by a 75hp engine, with the driver steering from the back...) arriving back on the island around 3pm (a two hour trip).
We joined a couple from Tasmania for dinner that evening and and booked a bus to Arequipa in Peru for the following day.
Overall one of the best stops on the trip so far - hopefully some of the photos can capture the magic...
Finally, for those interested I have some stats comparing Lake Titicaca and Lake Taupo - just because its the easiest way we could think to understand the sheer size of the place.
Lake Titicaca:
Max. length 190 km (118 mi)
Max. width 80 km (50 mi)
Surface area 8,372 km² (3,232 sq mi)
Average depth 107 m (351 ft)
Max. depth 284 m (932 ft)
Water volume 893 km³ (214 cu mi)
Shore length1 1,125 km (699 mi)
Surface elevation 3,812 m (12,507 ft)
Lake Taupo
Max. length 46 km
Max. width 33 km
Surface area 616 km²
Average depth 110 m
Max. depth 186 m
Water volume 59 km³
Shore length 193 km
Surface elevation ~356 m
May the adventures continue in Peru.
Take Care,
Dave & Kim
The bus trip was fairly scenic and at one point we had to hop off the bus while it was taken across the a lake by barge as we followed in a motorboat. Otherwise the journey was pleasantly uneventful - which made a nice change after our previous buses.
Once in Copacabana we looked for a Hostel and settled on one with a great view overlooking Lake Titicaca, before spending the afternoon looking around town and capturing some pictures of the sunset.
The following day and we splashed out with some retail therapy, buying some things for ourselves and some gifts for family. We even ventured out onto the lake on a peddle boat for some pictures looking back on the town, but generally just spent the day relaxing in what must be the most touristy place we encountered in all of Bolivia.
Day Three and our trip to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun, and birthplace of the sun in Inca mythology) began - first up was a 17km walk to Yampupata on the shore of Lake Titicaca (Yampupata being the closest settlement to the Island) to catch a boat to the island (Tip: generally people just catch a boat direct from Copacabana direct - but the views on this walk make the extra effort well worthwhile if you have the time).
The walk was interesting and along the way we saw the Virgin in a Cave, several trout farms and some interesting villages, although we have to admit we didn't actually walk the whole way because we bumped into a man along the way who offered to take us to the island himself (saving about an hours walk). The man (Hilario Paye) is well known to travellers features in the Lonely Planet and quickly presented us a collection of postcards (including a few NZ ones) from many travellers he has ferried to the island previously, although he no longer has the reed boat mentioned in the guidebook.
The boat we boarded was not much more than a tin dinghy with no oars or life jackets and a single 25hp engine... needless to say it was definitely good there was little wind.
Once on the southern end of the island we climbed the Inca Staircase to the village of Yumani which when combined with an altitude in excess of 4000masl proved testing...(for those that know Kim well, you can read between the lines here!)
From the village we headed south to check out the old Inca ruins at Piko Kaina before returning to the village for a beer and the sunset. Nighttime on the island was spectacular as the day trip tourists departed and the island plunged into silence (except the occasional donkey).
In the morning we set off for for the northern end of the island which is home to the Chincana Inca Ruins which is the site of the sacred rock where the Inca creation legend began, these ruins were more spectacular than those of the previous day and capped off a picturesque walk along the ridge line. After the ruins we visited the Rock of the Puma before heading to Cha'llapampa which is the islands major northern village for a boat back to Copacabana.
This time we caught a larger boat back to the mainland, which although beautiful was fairly slow (the boat was about 45 feet long, had about 40 passengers and was powered by a 75hp engine, with the driver steering from the back...) arriving back on the island around 3pm (a two hour trip).
We joined a couple from Tasmania for dinner that evening and and booked a bus to Arequipa in Peru for the following day.
Overall one of the best stops on the trip so far - hopefully some of the photos can capture the magic...
Finally, for those interested I have some stats comparing Lake Titicaca and Lake Taupo - just because its the easiest way we could think to understand the sheer size of the place.
Lake Titicaca:
Max. length 190 km (118 mi)
Max. width 80 km (50 mi)
Surface area 8,372 km² (3,232 sq mi)
Average depth 107 m (351 ft)
Max. depth 284 m (932 ft)
Water volume 893 km³ (214 cu mi)
Shore length1 1,125 km (699 mi)
Surface elevation 3,812 m (12,507 ft)
Lake Taupo
Max. length 46 km
Max. width 33 km
Surface area 616 km²
Average depth 110 m
Max. depth 186 m
Water volume 59 km³
Shore length 193 km
Surface elevation ~356 m
May the adventures continue in Peru.
Take Care,
Dave & Kim
1 comment:
Hey guys, sounds like you are having an awesome time in South America! We are super impressed by your detailed blog posts and pictures too - we're in relatively civilised Italy (well compared to where you are I mean) at the moment and it's a mission to stay on top of the blog.
See ya in the UK!
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