Copacabana/Lake Titicaca/Isla Del Sol

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The 11.00am bus left for Copacabana at 10.40. Luckily we were on it but more by luck than judgement. Of course, we are well aware that time is not regarded as as fixed as it is back home, but this was our first experience of something happening early as opposed to very late! Three hours into our four hour journey we stopped in San Pablo where the bus was ferried across the strait to San Pedro while the passengers got off and took a boat over. Finally we arrived in the main plaza in Copacabana and were immediately impressed by the ornate cathedral and clean streets.

Our chosen hotel had been recommended to us by an English bloke we met in La Paz - a pretty white building overlooking lake Titicaca. We even splashed out the extra $2 to have our own bathroom (a wise idea as I still was suffering from ´the runs´)

At 6.00pm we decided to go out for a drink and something to eat. What with it being a) early and b) the low season, this proved harder than expected. At 7.00pm we found a highly recommended (from Lonely Planet) vegetarian restaurant open. We went in and sat down. There was no one around so we waited for a bit. After 15 minutes we decided that we should probably leave - only when we tried the door we found we were locked in! We were both fumbling with the door - really WANTING to leave now - when the owner came back down and ushered us to sit down. For some reason we felt obliged to stay even though by this time we really didn´t want to! It turned out to be a pretty terrible dining experience. The toilet was absolutely disgusting, the food took an hour to arrive (for Pizza and vegetables??) and was tasteless AND the guy blatently tried to short-change us! The final straw as we came to finally leave and the door handle came off in my hand - by this time we are finding it all very amusing!!!

The next day we were intending to get up early to walk the 20 km to Yampupata and get the boat over to Isla Del Sol for a couple of nights. Only - I had another terrible night (on the toilet til 4.00am) so we didn´t wake early as planned. We decided to consider the options after a few more hours sleep. We both really wanted to go to the Island and knew we couldn´t delay the trip as we had a flight booked from La Paz on the Monday. By the time I woke properly I was convinced that my bowels were as evacuated as humanly possible, so we decided that as long as I didn´t eat anything and drank plenty of fluids I would be all right. (Good for the wedding diet if nothing else).

Noel had breakfast at the hotel and got them to make him a packed lunch and we packed up our stuff. As we were camping for 2 nights we needed to carry a fair bit of stuff. Noel carried a rucksack and I took a sportsbag. We thought the walk (which according to the Lonely Planet takes 3-4 hours) would take us about 3.

The walk certainly was spectacular, up and down the mountains,along Lake Titicaca, through small settlements.... Everyone we passed greeted us. It was tougher than we thought it would be - for some reason we were thinking 20km flat without heavy bags, 30 degree heat and 4000m altitude! We stopped every hour for a ten minute break and sat and looked at the lake.

By the time we arrived in Yampupata we were convinced that the author of the Lonely Planet had NEVER actually walked the trek herself as it was certainly no ´prelude to a couple of days trekking in Isla Del Sol´- WE WERE KNACKERED and it has taken us 5 hours, not 3 or 4! We hired a boat to take us the short distance across to Isla Del Sol and as it was now 5.00pm we thought we´d better get on with finding somewhere to pitch our tent.

On arrival we were greeted by an Islander who collected a small fee to see the ruins and wrote all tourists details in a visitors book. The poor bloke has only had 2 other visitors all day and was desperate to talk! He showed us every page of the book and waffled on (in Spanish) for ages! Not that we minded - it was a good excuse for a break. However time was ticking so after a while we politely had a quick look at the ruins and headed off in search of a spot for out tent.

The Lonely Planet claims that you can ´camp wild anywhere on the Island´(avoiding villages and cultivated land) but it fails to tell you that the Island is more of a mountain than an Island so it isn´t exactly flat! The 2500 permanent residents live off the land. They farm animals for meat and wool, grow what crops they can and sell any left overs (particuarly woven items) on the mainland. We walked for another hour, desperately looking around for flat ground - we had aching legs, arms, backs and just wanted to pitch up and lie down! Finally just past a small town we found a flat spot, it was only just off the main track round the island, so it wasn´t exactly sucluded but by now we didn´t care!

As we set up our tent locals were walking their llamas/horses/donkeys/sheep in from grazing. They stopped to stare or chat and found it particularly amusing that we were setting up a tent. Some of them pointed at the sky and laughed ´lluvia, lluvia´- they obviously thought we were heading for rainy night! A group of little children stopped as they passed, fascinated by our tent and our book on Bolivia. They stayed with us for ages, only going home as the light was beginning to fade.

We read in the tent for a bit and then decided to try to sleep. In the distance we could hear a huge storm kicking off over the lake. We prayed it didn´t come our way. Other than a few spots - it didn´t, but the flashes of lightning did rather scare me!

Quick Explanation of Tasmin´s fear of lightning (for those who don´t know):
When I was about 8 I had a friend who lived over the road called Lisa Baldwin. One day there was a storm with thunder and lightening and I was scared. My parents told me not to worry because it was safe in the house. The next day I found out that both Lisa and her mother had been struck by lightening in their house (they had been standing by the sink next to the window) and had been taken to hospital (but were fine). This has always stuck with me, I guess because as a kid you make sense of the world through your limited experiences and whilst I am sure being hit by lightning in your own house is very rare - it happened!

After a dodgy nights sleep (we hadn´t quite removed all the stones from under us!) we were woken by voices of children whispering ´oooooh Carpa!´and ´Mama Carpa!´(tent) As more children went past it became apparent that we were a real source of interest. We were both REALLY tired so we stayed in the tent, speaking to return the calls of ´Buenas Dias!´. Eventually curiousity must have got to the children as they started poking their faces through the crack in the zips trying to see in. We decided we couldn´t avoid getting up any longer so decided to pack and and walk to the next town for breakfast. We soon discovered we were both so low on energy. Noel had eaten very little the previous day, despite our 7 hour adventure (no where near enough for a 6´2" Geordie) and I´d had no food for over 30 hours and the runs for nearly a week!

We found somewhere to get food just in the nip of time as I was feeling really faint and thought I would never get up the hill to the town. We had an almuerzo (fixed lunch) of Quinoa soup (yum yum) and an omlete with potatoes and rice. It was delicious and so needed! Afterwards we we raring to explore the north end of the Island! We decided to spend the afternoon walking to the north, where we would camp for the night and then get the ferry back the next day.

We walked for a few hours heading to the north via the east side of the island. Ocasionally we totally lost the track and ended up in peoples gardens or in their fields. More walking and stunning views. Every time it looked like we were nearly at the bay we needed there were always more hidden bays inbetween! By 3.30 we were getting low on water and we were still a way from our destination so we decided to pay a lady to take us around to the northern ferry port in her boat. (Only Noel being Noel decided that the lady couldn´t possibily row us so we basically paid for Noel to row me and the lady! Bless him!) On arriving we soon sussed out that the community boat left for Copacabana the next morning at 8.00am and we could get a ride with them.

The land was much flatter at this end of the island so we set our tent up a few metres from lake Titicaca, just round the corner from where the boat was leaving the next day. This night we were not so lucky with the weather, probably because we forgot to toast Pachamama that day. It turned out to be the most frightening night I can recall! It started with rain and wind - so hard and fast that we kept having to peer out of the tent to make sure the lake level hadn´t risen and was about to wash us away. Then came the chanting. Some one was standing on the hill behind us chanting away.... What was he saying??? Was he saying (in Spanish) ´Come on everyone! There´s going to be a tornado that will rip down your house so lets get out of here!´or was he saying ´Let´s take the gringoes to the sacrifical alter! It´s time for an offering to the Gods!´

I reminded Noel that next to this town you can visit the sacrificial alter where they used to sacrifice humans and animals! BUT HOW RECENTLY??!! At this point the thunder and lightning was so strong and frequent that the lightning appeared to be gold and not white. I was convinved that our little metal framed tent was going to get us killed! Almost in comedy fashion (but it wasn´t funny at the time because I was so scared) a donkey starteds to ´ee-aw´but in a pained menacing way. Soon other sounds joined in dogs barked and children screamed! At one point it seemed that the chanting man was orchestrating all the noise - whenever he stopped chanting - on cue the thunder would bang and the lightning would strike. I really can´t remember every being so scared - but luckily Noel calmed me down. Somehow we eventually got to sleep and woke the next day with wet sleeping bags, wet tent and wet clothes - but in good spirit - we were safe!!!!!!!!!! (However when we were putting down the tent we did see a dead lamb at the bottom of the cliff about 20ft away from our tent)

The comminuty boat took us back to Copacabana. The locals looked tired - so we weren´t the only ones being kept awake last night! When we got back to the hostel we were delighted to discover that the room we had wanted had been double booked so we were upgraded to the honeymoon suite! After 2 nights with little sleep we got the most beautiful apartment with amazing unspoilt views of lake Titicaca - LUSH!

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Photos

Titi1
Lake Titicaca

Titi2
Our walk to Isla Del Sol (over the mountains in the distance)

Titi3
Isla Del Sol - Suitable for camping?

Titi4
Our camping neighbour

Titi5
Noel rowing to the North of the Island

Comments

[DAD]

O you poor thing!
So now you've got the runs? What about getting some medication before you disappear completely down the loo?