| Dec 6, 2005 - Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
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 | | show all 57 | | The next morning, setting off for the island | | On Isla del Sol, starting the walk to the ruins | | Its not the carribean, its a lake | | |
| The Island of the Sun is the main tourist attraction in Copacabana. Just a short way off the shore is an island steeped in legend and sacred to the Incas. The creation of the Inca people is credited to 2 brothers that were said to have emerged from a rock here on the Island of the Sun. This same island is also believed to be the birthplace of the Sun, hence its name. At the top of a hill on the north side of the island is an old sacrificial spot where the locals used to cme and make offerings in front of the sdacred rocks. Apparently they made human sacrifices as well of young girls, which brought a lot of integrity to the girls and her family. However, the guy who was showing us around the island claimed that these girls did not actually know why they were being lead to this place, and only found out of their purpose at the sacrificial spot itself. You can believe what you want.
Anyway, a typical tour of the Island of the Sun goes like this. At about 8:30am you take a 2 hour boat to the northen and further shore of the island. This is where the most important ruins and cultural spots are located. From here you can catch a boat to the south shore, but most people opt to walk the stunning 3 hours along the ridge of the mountain. This walk was beautiful as you could see both sides of the island and Lake Titicaca stretching as far as the horizon would let it. The sun was pretty fierce as it was a very open and exposed trail, but some water sunscreen and a hat allowed it to still be very enjoyable. Once on the south side most people catch the final boat back at about 4pm, unless they are going to stay on the island in one of the hostels. The 6 girls and I, and another Swedish girl named Anja that we had met, all originally intended to stay on the island and just enjy a serene and quiet night in the middle of the lake. So we all had lunch together, but then decided that we'd be better off heading back the same night, which worked out better for me and my tight schedule. We heard that people with private boats offer rides back until the night time, so at about 5:30 we went down to the port to see what we could get. With 8 people the ride was actually pretty cheap, and for only two dollars more than the tour boat would have cost, we hired our own privat boat for the 90 minute ride back to Copacabana. This actually allowed us to be out in the middle of the lake right during sunset, and luckily for us the sunset was absolutely amazing that night.
Back in town we all went out for a pizza dinner, decided we would take off togther to La Paz the next day, and headed off to sleep. The next day Anja and I walked around a bit before our bus, and witnessed the bizarre blessing of the vehicles ceremony that takes place in this town only. While we were there, a brand new bus for some Peruvian comany's fleet had crossed the border to get blessed. And Anja got swooped up into the celebration to dance. We then enjoyed the easy 3-hour ride to La Paz with amazing scenery all along the way. |
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