Isla del Sol

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So after just a few days back in La Paz I met up with an Aussie and dragged the unsuspecting fool to yet another fiesta and then persuaded him to come to Lake Titicaca with me. After so long on my own, Adams constantly amusing chatter and impersonations were refreshing, so off we tripped to the Isla del sol, after a rainy night in Copacabana, without much of a plan.
We spent the first night in Yumani at the southern end having huffed and puffed up the Incan staircase without stopping to admire it much, and the next morning woke to a storm which had started the previous evening. Luckily as predicted by our breakfast chef the rain only continued one more hour then brightened into sunshine and we were able to set off along the ridge of the island to the North part and the ruins. To be honest, if there hadn't been a load of tourists fresh off the boat we might have missed the rock which gives the island its name - reportedly shaped like a crouching puma, and we sat down for a rest on the sacrificial table before realising what it was (it looked just like a recently hewn pinic bench). So all in all we weren't overwhelmed by what should have been an very significant island in terms of Incan beliefs and rituals, but we did have a pleasant walk and some nice views. The highlight though came when we descended to the village of Cha´llapampa where we planned to spend the night and managed to fulfill an urge I had had in Copacabana to rent a sailing boat for a few hours. Adam turned out to be a natural sailor despite not much wind and a sail that was holier than any of the sights we'd seen! The next day we visited a pointless museum but then had a lovely walk out on to the peninsula where all the villagers had their parcels of land. We passed women leading donkeys whilst spinning llama wool, not wasting a minute on their way to dig and hoe and weed their plots, and stood out at the end looking over to the little island we had sailed out to the previous afternoon. Of course that morning the wind was brisk and perfect for a sail and we were both half tempted to stay and go out again.
The return trip found us waiting at the harbour below Yumani again for an hour or so, where I read a book and watched the kids seeing how long they could hold their head under water, whilst their siblings vied for the custom of the next boatload of tourists. We arrived just as a 'traditional' reedboat (I doubt any Titicacan fisherman would have been seen dead on anything like this) pulled out taking some people back to Copa the posh way with crew in their ponchos on oars and square sails raised just out of the bay. I was still there when they returned minus passengers, ponchos, sails and at full speed with the engine on - the sensible way!
The next day we left Copa for Cusco via the dump that is Puno, where we accidently ordered some pigs leg soup for lunch which neither of us could eat (I thought it was going to be duck, I had even asked if it was the animal on the water to confirm this, but no....it was another bit of bone with jelly like meat and even a few hairs this time).

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