On checking out we left all our luggage bar an
over-night bag as we were off to catch a boat to Isla del Sol on Lake
Titicaca. Many people choose to do this
as a day trip but we’d read there was plenty of good walking to do so decided
to go and spend a couple of nights there.
In fact Steve had found a good looking, if a little secluded, guesthouse
and had e-mailed them to make a booking.
There are several boat companies all offering one-way tickets for Bob20
a head for the two hour journey to Yumani on the island. Once there we were duly met by someone from
Palla Khasa guesthouse – they said someone would meet us as the place was a
little tricky to find.
We knew the place was about half a kilometre
from the village but we hadn’t expected the same again in just to get us up
from the bay to the village. It was a
steep climb and we were glad we just had the small bag with us. It turns out they send someone to meet you as
if you were trying to find the place yourself you’d have given up ages
ago! Secluded it definitely is but that
does not justify its high room tariff that is quoted in US dollars. Alarms bells should have been ringing at that
last fact and on arriving we noticed that they’d added ‘Eco’ to their name i.e.
double the price. The room was fine but
not much above basic and the guesthouse’s location, on the sunset side of the
island, meant it was extremely cold of a morning. We would have to stay that night but thought
it would be wise to check out alternatives for the following evening.
Let’s get positive now; Isla del Sol has got
to be one of the most beautiful islands we’ve ever been on with Lake Titicaca
being so vast it is difficult to comprehend.
We were looking down on sparkling azure blue waters with bays, headlands
and the land masses of Bolivia and Peru forming a divide between the blues of
water and clear skies. Plus we could
still see the snow-capped Cordillera Real peaks where we noticed a bank of
cloud was hanging over the foothills of Sorata again.
We spent the afternoon pottering around the
southern end of the island which is not as visited as other areas. There are some set paths but we seemed to
keep losing them! Bearing in mind the
lake is at 3800m and the highest point of the island is around 4000m there
wasn’t much in the way of vegetation so we didn’t think we could get too
lost. In the end we followed a headland
trail that led to a Pachamama offering point perched on the highest point of
the southern end of the island. From
there we worked our way down through the agricultural terracing (no crops to
trample on at this time of year) and eventually met up with a proper
track. This path lead people to one of
the small Inca sites that are to be found on the island but it didn’t look
worth detouring to.
From there it was an easy path back to the
village and all day we’d been looking at stunning views. We decided to while away a little time in the
village sitting supping a tall cool one soaking up the sun’s warmth admiring
the views. We also checked out some
alternative places to stay and decided we’d be much happier on the sunrise side
of the island with mountain views as an added bonus. It looked like we’d have no problem finding
something the following morning and save ourselves a few bob into the
bargain. They say Sorata is the most
laid-back place in Bolivia but we beg to differ – it has to be here. There isn’t even any traffic on the island.
Day 2
Following the included breakfast that wasn’t
any different from any other we’ve had (other than Steve got an egg) we checked
out. By 9am we were checking into the
wonderful room at Casa de la Luna that I’d enquired about the previous
day. The room was brand new,
immaculately clean, bright, airy and spacious with a cracking bathroom. The ultimate selling point was the huge glass
windows positioned to catch the morning sun and much of the day’s
sunshine. This made the room much warmer
than any other we’ve stayed in. We feel
it would be impossible to position your home, restaurant or guesthouse and not
get a good view but the vista from here was second to none. We could see down into the village with its
cute little stone and red roofed church set within mature eucalyptus / cedar
trees. Beyond that was the vast shimmering
intense blue of Lake Titicaca set off with deserted islands, promontories and
those fantastic Cordillera peaks. The
lady who runs the place was lovely, very welcoming and incredibly tolerant of
our bad Spanish. Infinitely better than
Palla Khasa and amazingly Bob100 cheaper at just Bob80 per person per night.
With such a positive start to the day we set
off on today’s walk with a noticeable spring in our step. Today we were going to walk to the northern
end of the island. In the end we did
better than that as our ticket (Bob15 each) had a map on the back that showed a
circuitous track looked easy to follow.
Indeed it was and by the time we returned to the village we felt we’d
seen most of the island. Initially we
followed the ridge route that undulated its way across the spine of the
island. We couldn’t resist popping up a
side hill to see if the views were even better from up there. It turned out that we ‘summited’ Isla del Sol
and had reached just over 4000m again.
Yes the views were magnificent but to be honest they were spectacular
along the length of our 20km walk.
As we neared the northern end of the island we
found the Inca ruins our ticket had promised.
They weren’t extensive but interesting none-the-less with a sacrifice
table and ruins of a small compact village.
There was another headland to go up so we duly did and from there we got
a good impression as to just how immense Lake Titicaca is. It derives its name from the Inca for Puma
Rock and in fact there is a chunk of rock that is supposed to resemble a
crouching puma. We couldn’t see it and
can only conclude that the Inca’s had some strong substances to hand!
As we were perched near the top of said
headland we could see the tour groups being herded into the ancient site. We tucked into our butties while chuckling at
them and feeling superior for deciding to stay on this wonderful island. On descending our knoll the path took us
along the tour group sheep trail to their awaiting boats. For us we struck off through the village and
followed the path as it hugged the shoreline.
At one point it descended into the island’s main town where tourism
doesn’t appear to touch most of the people’s everyday lives. The island’s school is also to be found there
and judging by how many children we saw walking around in uniforms it looks to
be well attended. Some of the little
ones must have to walk about an hour each way.
The track then steadily rose back up to the
ridge path where we’d bought our ticket that morning. It was one of the best easy walks we’ve ever
done as there was no fear of getting lost; we were in among lovely scenery and
looking out at fabulous views all the way.
This, sadly, was our last night in Bolivia so it seemed very fitting that
we should be sat on our balcony supping a beer.
To add to all that lovely scenery I told you about earlier the
guesthouse garden had some lovely flowers in it too that attract a variety of
birds including a hummingbird. We were
staying in the best accommodation so far and actually started in the second
best place a month ago in Tupiza.
Bolivia has proved itself to be a stunningly
beautiful country with loads to do and see, fabulous trekking and wonderfully
warm people. It’s touched our hearts
like Sri Lanka and Uganda have and I’ve a feeling we’ll be back. Muchos gracias Bolivia y hasta leuga.
