Copacabana (donde musica y pasione son todos en “fashion”)

11/18/09

Note the alpaca.

Today we took a boat tour to Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca. It is a two hour boat ride to the north end of the island. Based on how fast the boat was going it would probably be a three hour swim. Our first stop was the museum. It didn't have much but it was the same ticket as the ruins. We walked up (from 3,800 to 4,000 meters) to the ruins. There was an Inca temple, a labyrinth and puma rock (from whence Lake Titicaca got its name). Shannon and I decided to hike the high trail to the south of the island. Carmalyn decided to take the boat.

It wasn't really a hard hike, it was just that it was hilly and at altitude. We were both puffing on then uphill parts and fine on the downhills. I'd tell you what it was like on the flat bits, but there weren't any. We saw some more ruins and had some great views of the lake with the mountains behind them. After about two and a half hours we reached the south end. We almost got run over by a herd of donkeys and llamas on the way down.

We had a while before the boat left, so I went swimming. Lake Titicaca isn't the coldest lake I've ever been in, but it's in the top ten. It was fabulous. The water is crystal clear. I didn't want to get out. Both Shannon and Carmalyn took their shoes off and waded in.

After a long, slow, but scenic boat back to the mainland we hiked up the other hill in town. Apparently there are some more ruins up there but we never saw them. Playing on the rocks was fun enough for me.

At dinner, there were buskers right beside our table. They were quite good and very entertaining. After they finished, we spent the rest of our dinner plotting the best way back to La Paz. I'll let you know how our plan went tomorrow.