Copacabana

We made our way to Copacabana, on the edge of Lake Titicaca. The shortest route involves crossing the lake by boat, while our bus made its way across on a barge:

Copacabana Beach, Bolivia, is pretty different from Copacabana Beach, Brazil, although still incredibly popular with the locals (note the thousands of pedal boats):


We grabbed some of the local delicacies from the beachfront kiosks. Despite being a Gringo-filled town, there were only locals eating from the kiosks so we were a little uncertain what might happen to our stomachs. No problems though, as we tried some of the local trucha (trout):

 

And the classic Bolivian dish, pique macho (sausage, beef, peppers, tomatoes, onions, cheese, a boiled egg, and a shitload of sauce, all on top of papas fritas):


Feeling pretty full, we sat in the sun on a rooftop and enjoyed a few cold beverages for the afternoon.

Wandered the streets and markets, and found the pretty impressive church:

We caught up with our friend Jenny, who is the daughter of a guy we worked with in Wellington, Colin, for a couple of beers in the evening. Good to hear a kiwi accent and have a good yarn.

The next day we caught a boat out to Isa Del Sol, which the Incas believed to be the birthplace of the sun. The boat trip was a tad cold and a touch slow, but the sun was out in full force on the island and it was a perfect day for trekking north to south. The scenery from the boat reminded us a lot of New Zealand and felt like we could be in Lyttelton or Akaroa Harbour, only 3700 m up and on a lake.

Cat wrapped up on the boat:

The island was amazingly scenic, and had a huge number of ancient terraces:

Top of the world:

 

Probably the world's best spot for a picnic (put some sunblock on those piernas, Cat!):


Amongst the Incan ruins:

Lifting a lintel into place:

On the trail:

 

Making our way up to a pass:

 

 

Amongst the eucalyptus trees, a welcome relief from the sun:

 

 





There were donkeys everywhere:

And again:


True to its name, the sun was amazingly strong and despite our best efforts we both got pretty sunburnt legs.

Content with some more trucha and lomo saltado for dinner (a bit different from Dad's lomo saltado, but still pretty good!), we made our way back to our hostel for an early night and were treated to a spectacular electrical storm over the lake:


Our last day in Bolivia complete, it was off to Peru the next day.