Lake Titicaca

Day 245 – Copacabana, Bolivia

8 months since I started travelling!

I had booked an almost expensive hotel in Copacabana, near the centre, where I have my own room and en-suite bathroom. I don’t have a heater though, and it is cold!

The shower doesn’t give really hot water either, so taking a shower is an exercise in gritting one’s teeth and trying to avoid being electrocuted when turning the water handle -though it is covered in silicon tape, it’s better to use a cloth to turn it.

It is cold and it rains, so it is a bit difficult to be enthusiast about climbing the nearby hills for a sunset view over the lake. Or going for an excursion on the Isla del Sol (Sun Island).

Copacabana harbour

I summoned the courage to go for an afternoon excursion though. It is a whirlwind tour: 2 hours to get to the island, only one hour to climb the Escalera des Inka (Inca’s Stairs) to the top of the island, then a 15 min stop to a temple a bit further and back to the harbour.

I managed to climb two-third of the way (see picture header) before having to go back down. It is steep, and apparently I have lost some of my stamina being driven around instead of walking in Bolivia!

Isla des Sol

I didn’t go to the temple though, frankly you could see the ruins from the boat as well as going in them.

All in all, the excursion was lacklustre. I did seat on the top of the boat on the way back, and we arrived just before it started to rain!

If the weather had been kinder, I would have gone on a morning boat to the North of the island, crossed it during the day, and taken an afternoon boat back to Copacabana. Or I would even have spent a night on it.

I would have gone also to see the Isla de la Luna (Moon Island), but to be fair I thought my boat would drop us there. There are also floating islands to see: islands made of woven reeds by the local tribes. But really, the weather wasn’t encouraging.