Lake Titicaca and Isla De La Sol

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Lake Titicaca is the world’s largest lake at high altitude. It is vast. It shimmers in the sun for as far as the eye can see on the horizon. The waters are sapphire blue and so inviting for a swim, yet the temperature remains freezing cold.

Isla De La Sol (Island of the Sun), is the island in the middle of Titicaca that the Incas believed was where their sun god was born…which makes it the believed birthplace of the Incas. There are still Incan temple ruins here today that you can trek to.

To get to Isla De La Sol you must take a two-hour boat ride from the tiny little Bolivian port town of Copacabana. Once arriving, it is all hoofing it by foot straight up, as there are not any cars on the island, just donkeys and llamas. The altitude is high (4,000 meters/12,000 feet) and climbing up to the top of the island, where all the little hostels are, is quite a huff and puff because of the lack of oxygen. The reward of reaching the vista is grand. You can see three hundred and sixty degree views of the lake all around, and high altitude snowy mountain peaks in the distance.

One of my last nights in Bolivia was spent on Titicaca, watching a quiet yet stunning sun set down below the lake. What a fabulous place to reflect on the last twenty days spent in a country I had come to dearly love. Bolivia has made it to my top 3 of favorite countries (Turkey and India are the other two, in that order). Peru has Macchu Picchu, and everyone dreams of going there. But Bolivia quietly sits next door, quite undiscovered by the masses. All that will eventually change for this humble country once tourism reaches full force. I'm glad I got to see it before that happens. The wealth of it’s varied landscape and adventure is unsurpassed. I will be back sometime in life.

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