Copacabana and Lake Titicaca

Yesterday I undertook a fairly adventurous (and ultimately totally redundant - more explanation later) day trip to Copacabana and Lake Titicaca (the world's highest navigable lake). The day started with an exceptionally slow bus ride out of La Paz, and the total trip to Copacabana lasted around 3.5 hours. The scenery was very beautiful, although I think I might be suffering from dramatic landscape overexposure, as doing my Spanish vocab on the bus seemed more exciting.

When I got to the lake I went for lunch, the obligatory trout fished from the lake, which is served at pretty much every restaurant. This was probably the highlight of the day, and was indeed very good and fresh.

After lunch I took a boat ride to Isla del Sol, which was a 90-minute stomach-turning experience. I try to have faith in Bolivian health and safety standards, but the 8 life jackets for the 30 people on board did little to settle my nerves that they had properly assessed the risks of crossing a very choppy lake Titicaca yesterday afternoon. For most of the journey I (and the French woman to my right) were convinced we were one wave away from capsizing. Having got the the island I only had about an hour to wander around, during which I marched very quickly up some Inca steps

before almost collapsing at the top in exhaustion. I suspect I had underestimated the altitude effect and in my high-speed sightseeing tour, overextended myself a bit.

The Incas love their steps

The island is meant to be a must-see, but i have to say I was a bit underwhelmed. I can put this down to having not nearly enough time (most people stay a night), but even the scenery didn't blow me away. It's certainly very beautiful, but living in Zurich means the "blue-lake-with-mountain-peaks-in-the-background" thing isn't so special.

Anyway, got the bus back to La Paz at 18.30, and the return journey was only 3 hours (if you look at the distance on the map, you'll see why even 3 hours seems a bit ridiculous), and checked into a new hostel for the evening, before getting up at 6.30 for a taxi to the airport for my flight to Cusco.

In comparison to yesterday's explorations, the flight was a definite success. Only left 30 minutes late (and this delay was explained) on a 60-seater plan that had around 15 passengers on it. The first 20 minutes of the journey were a lovely aerial view of La Paz, Northern Bolivia and... Lake Titicaca! Which, was much more impressive from the air, and this tour didn't involve 3 hours on a rubbish Bolivian bus (although, I suppose the fresh trout in Copacabana is the only thing that made the previous day's trip worthwhile). So, after a very nice plane journey, I'm in Cusco, staying at a fairly cool hostel (seems to have a sociable atmosphere without being crazy), and I've booked myself in for a fairly intense 5-day trek tomorrow which includes a trip to MP on the last day. I've been down to the market and stocked up on nuts and fruit, and am looking forward to the trip (apart from the 4.30am start!).