Copacabana y La Isla Del Sol

On October 11th we took the bus from Puno, Peru to Copacabana, Boliva. The bus ride was only 3.5 hours, and the border crossing was fairly smooth by South American standards. It was a bit frustrating to notice that we USA citizens were the only ones to pay an outrageous entry visa tax (135$ each for 90 days). It was interesting to see that Bolivians weren't particularly excited to have Americans in their country, but after doing a bit of research its very reasonable to understand why they hold animosity against us. Irregardless, most of the people have been very warm and polite.


October 12th, Ivan's birthday, was a day strictly for R&R. Unfortunately, Ivan was recovering from a serious case of PCSGIES or Post Ceviche Spontaneous Gastro Intestional Explosions Syondrome. Don't eat the lake trout raw, he learned. Other than that, it was nice to sit by the lake, have a romantic paddle around on a plastic swan boat, soak up some sunshine, and enjoy some of the local food and wine and of course spend this special day with my loving, sweet, Kristin. The highlight of the day was being surprised with birthday cards that Kristin had been collecting and holding on to since early September from family and friends. It felt like I was celebrating with all of you! It was such a special surprise to have the support and love of a classic birthday party, even though we are continents away.

Our hotel was the large pinkish one on the right. On the beach with a beautiful balcony to view the sunrise/sunset

October 13th we caught an early boat out to La Isla del Sol. The boat moved at an incredible slow pace, but the lake and surrounding scenery was spectacular. Unfortunately the 'gas' smelled like mixture of turpentine and dirty kerosene, so the fumes were a bit distracting, so we hung our heads out of a broken window at the front of the boat and caught the cool morning breeze.


The Island is only 9.6 x 5.6 km in area, but hiking on it had us huffing and puffing against the altitude (4200m). After a quick sandwich, we tagged along with a tour group to the 'sacred' Inka and pre-Inka ruins. The guide was very enthusiastic and seemingly knowledgeable, but the 'temple' was a series of terraced farms where it used to be, and the incredible sacred 'stone' was in the center of someone's backyard and barely in view from the trail. A bit enlivened in town when we bought the tickets...

burro y burro post burro lick

Farther up the hill we came to the sacrificial and astrological altar. Unfortunately the Spanish conquistadors had defaced most of it (and of course taken the huge gold cache) that been a cornerstone of Inkan wealth. The large stone altar was the supposed birthplace of the first 2 Inkas who started the Inkan empire (their garden of Eden, but with some serious conquering and subjugation being the result rather than original sin...). In January and August, many people make a pilgrimage from the port to this stone crawling on their knees. The site has is supposed to have the most religious significance out of the entire Inkan empire.



The hike from the northern side of the island to the southern was spectacular. The color of the water was deep blue, framed by the snow capped mountains, and of course the beautiful cloud-scapes. Hilariously, different checkpoints were set up by various villages who demanded money to cross on their road. We heard every excuse in the book as to where the money would go, and how we wouldn't make it back to the mainland if we didnt' pay... We fell for the first checkpoint, but ignored the second 2. A bit of a sad way to make a living, but there's enough gullible tourists to go around...



Today, October 14th, we took a bus for 30 bolivianos, or for a grand total of $4.35, down to La Paz. The city is enormous with 8 million people all jammed into this valley. Though its a much different pace than what we've seen so far, the city has a very nice vibe and energy to it. We are looking forward to exploring the city and surrounding areas in the next proceeding days. Another blog on the city to come soon...