Slowly making my way back towards Lima for my return flight home
now. En route from La Paz, we stopped off by Lake Titicaca again
for a few days.

This time, we stayed on the Bolivian side, in a town named
Copacabana, and decided to do some camping and hiking on la Isla
del Sol (Island of the Sun).

What a perfectly idyllic place. It's a two hour boat ride from
Copacabana, and there are no vehicles of any sort on the island.
Only about 15 km from end to end, we spent the first day hiking
from the south end to the north along a ridgeline that afforded
views of the Lake on either side.

Probably the best part of the day was going near some Incan
ruins, without actually having to stop and look at them. 

Watching the sun set on the lake where the Incans claim it was
born was a nice touch.

That evening, we camped on a semi-secluded beach on the eastern
shore. After dinner, and close to our bedtime, an old couple
landed on the beach after a long day of fishing for trout and
pejerrey. Our curiosity impelled us to wander the 25 feet or so
to the water's edge, whereupon we were immediately enlisted in
helping the couple drag their rowboat onto the sand.

Not an easy task, and I'm ashamed to say that a 60 year old man
was pushing and pulling twice as hard as I was. What's more, he
was also sloshing around in the freezing cold water in bare feet,
while stayed on the sand, wearing my Gore-Tex lined boots.

Later, an intense wind and snowstorm beat the hell out of our
tent, but I was content to snuggle deeper into my sleeping bag
and let Cara go outside to reinforce the tent stakes.

The storm stopped after an hour anyway.

In the morning, we got to watch the sun's rebirth over a
wonderfully cloudy sky. It took another 4 hours or so to hike
back to the south end of the island, this time winding our way
through the small hamlets and villages of the eastern shore. 

Our return was rewarded with yet another meal of freshly caught
fish. Yum yum.

I'm sorry to have left the isle, as one would be hard pressed to
find a more tranquil place.

/Alex