The next morning we woke up early because we had a long way ahead of us. Now that we had seen Puno - the Peruan side of the lake - it was time to cross the border and start our journey through Bolivia.
With an area of 8,288 square kilometers, Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America. The western part with 4916 km² of the lake belongs to Peru, the eastern part with 3372 km² to Bolivia.
Measured by its area, it is the eighteenth largest natural lake in the world; its area is about 15.5 times as large as that of Lake Constance (including the Untersee) and almost as large as Corsica. It is very dirty though.
So after breakfast, we went directly to the local bus station to get a ticket to Copacabana on the Bolivin side of the lake. Our first destination from there was clear - Isla del Sol at Lake Titicaca.
You might say: why so early if it is only a 150km drive?? Well, it is South America. The buses are not like in first world countries, the street goes along the lake, but still, we are at about 4000m hight and also there is a lot of wildlife moving around :D
In the morning it was still very cold, but once the sun came out it was better. Looking out the window I got sleepy.
When I woke up we already had arrived at the border. So it was time to get out and do the check out from Peru to officially leave the country.
That went surprisingly fast and smooth. From there we had to walk along a street in the middle of nowhere. This area didn't belong to Peru anymore and not to Bolivia yet..so we were basically walking between two countries - gone from the radar :D I know this from other countries (Chile - Argentina for example) - but still, it is always a funny thought to be lost between 2 countries for some minutes.
Even more interesting was that there were locals having shops in this street to sell food, drinks or exchange money. You could even go to a toilet there for the money. The german part in me was wondering if they pay any taxes or how this is ruled if they are basically not having their shops in a specific country... :D
At the end of the street, we could go and check in to Bolivia. Here it was a bit busier - So it took us about 1 hr! At least now the sun was out, so we weren't freezing anymore.
Back in the bus driving from the border, it wasn't far to Copacabana. We could see it from far away. A bit less fancy than expected. Welcome to Bolivia we thought ;)
In one of my next posts, I will tell you more about the city, but for now, it was only a pass-through. We had lunch at the local restaurant and then bought our tickets to Isla del Sol.
The boat ride takes between 1,5hrs an 2hrs - Depending on which harbour you wanna go and how strong the wind blows/in which direction.
After a while we started to see the island. It was huge! much bigger than I had expected. But the harbour was much smaller :D
Arriving at the island I thought this was it. We did arrive!! but wrong :D
None of the hostels/hotels right there were one of ours. Britta had booked a fancy one through her agency that turned out to be way up. - "So let´s go to the hotel" she said. :D
I was pretty tired at that point and still not very used to the thin air. Isla del sol is at 4000m hight! So there was an option to get our big bags up with a donkey, which we took (thank god!).
They went another way though because they couldn´t walk the stairs. So we would meet them at the hotel and started our little hike by ourselves.
Every step at 4000m is tough. I felt like this took forever :D also stairs are not my favorite. But Britta was highly motivated and the view was just priceless and kept us going. We didn´t give up -well also we didn´t have another choice haha. It was already afternoon and we had to arrive before it got very cold again.
So we went up the thousand stairs (I didn´t count them), and then crossed a few villages, went along a stone wall and followed a small trail further and further. I wasn´t sure if Britta really knew the way. Sometimes I felt very lost and tired, but when we asked people, they said we just had to follow the path.
After a while we came by a church and then we had only countryside in front of us. I got very sceptical.. and even Britta was irritated. Now we met some Lamas and Alpacas on the way that seemed lost :D - Almost no more people around - but we kept going.
And then after 2 hrs hiking - out of nowhere we saw the sign of the hotel and ran towards it. The bags had already arrived and our small private house was ready to check in!! What a relieve and what a view!! I was super tired but totally happy.
We arrived just in time to get some well deserved dinner and then saw one of the most beautiful sunsets ever on the lake with a view towards the Cordillera Real on the horizon!
What a spectacular end of that day! I was just happy to be warm and safe :D After the sunset I immediately fell asleep!
Check out the video for more:
In the next post I'll tell you all about our little exploration of the island. So stay tuned :)
Cheers,
Liz
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Looks really fun!
Wish you a nice time!
Thanks @urun :)
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Thanks @livinguktaiwan :)
It is an interesting place as presented by the nice pictures.
It really is :)
What an adventure and the sunset is beautiful too!
Yes, visiting Bolivia was indeed special ;) and the height was something new to me.
Oh wow all looking so beautiful.
And many thanks for visiting my wall.
Best regards sis
You are welcome
Wao must be a wonderful experience, friend @lizanomadsoul those landscapes are beautiful and the magic that is lived being in direct contact with such an ancestral environment is the best.
It was indeed a very special place to be at. Glad you liked it and thanks for stopping by :)
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What I like most about travel publications are the anecdotes, I will answer the question that arises from your German curiosity.
Nobody pays taxes in those areas, not even a little further to the center hahaha in South American countries we have that quality that is not very good when it comes to receiving good services.
I loved the video, that music was good and the burritos at the end making their big appearance, I'm glad they had that animal help, otherwise his girlfriend would be more irritated. @lizanomadsoul
Thanks for answering haha I imagined that - now the german part in me is happy to know! Glad you liked the post :) Hopefully, I soon have the time to continue writing more about that trip. Saludos y un abrazo, Liz
ilginç ve güzel bir coğrafya
Oh my gosh. You went to Lake Titicaca!!!!! We learned our geography in school growing up and some names just stick out to 10 year-olds in school. Titicaca was one of them!! I haven't thought about this in YEARS. I am so glad you posted. It is fascinating to see pictures of the journey and the lake in "real life." Inhad no idea that it was that big!
The adventure to your hotel also- wow, I would have been getting very apprehensive the longer it took to get there, but that view! Wow. I can't imagine how much more beautiful it was in person.
Haha glad to trigger childhood memories of yours. It is indeed a very special place to visit! hopefully, soon I find the time to tell you more about it ;) Thanks for stopping by and glad you liked it.
I love so much your pictures and the way you share the stories, good vibes always and have a nice day ❤️
Thanks @paulavg. Your feedback is highly appreciated :)
awesome!
:)