The World’s Highest Lake!

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Lake Titicaca situated between Peru and Bolivia in South America is the world’s highest navigable lake. It is 3811 m above sea level! We decided to visit the lake from Copacabana in Bolivia rather than Puno in Peru as Puno was, not to put to fine a point on it, a hole! We had an interesting border crossing between Peru and Bolivia involving buses, a taxi and a rickshaw. The rickshaw man insisted on cycling us and our backpacks up a hill to the border controls and even after one of his pedals broke and Pete was helping him push the rickshaw, he insisted on continuing!

We spent the next day exploring Copacabana. The altitude left us feeling a bit winded so we looked around the local cathedral and watched a car blessing ceremony. This involves decorating cars, trucks and buses with flowers, parading a statue of the virgin past and then drenching the vehicles and the people watching with wine and beer! Later we took a pedalo out on the lake. It was pretty creaky but Pete had fun plotting our route on the GPS. We finished the day climbing up the hill overlooking Copacabana to watch the sunset over the lake and a thunder storm in the distance.

The following morning we set off for Isla del Sol (The Island of the Sun), where the Incas believed the sun was born. We walked first to Yampupata, 17 km from Copacabana where we got a row boat across to the island. The countryside was really nice along the way, alternating between green and fertile, wooded and dry and dusty with some great views of the lake along the way. We also had our first taste of Chicha, a traditional maize drink fermented with saliva! A Bolivian lady asked us to burn some crystals at a grotto for her and then her father insisted on us drinking some Chicha, pretty nice it was mixed with some pink fruit juice. Once on Isla del Sol we walked across part of the island to a village called Yumani where we stayed the night. From where we were on the top of the island, we had views on one side of the lake, the Peruvian side where the sun set and on the other, the Bolivian side with snow capped mountains in the distance. Next day we continued walking to the north of the island with an Aussie couple that we had originally met in Quito. Along the way we saw what the locals believe are the footprints of the Sun God and impressive Incan ruins called The Labyrinth. Later we hopped on a boat to Isla de la Luna and then back to Copacabana.

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