22nd September: Isla del Sol

After a night interrupted by an impressive storm at around 4am, we caught the 8am boat from Copacabana to the Isla del Sol.  The weather had cleared up, so we started by sitting on top of the small boat, but were quickly sent scuttling downstairs when the rain poured down once again.  This didn't promise much fun for a hike across the island, but thankfully the sun came out again to welcome us to his island.

Isla del Sol is the largest island in Lake Titicaca, where the sun was created according to Inca legend.  After a brief stop at a very small museum by the harbour, we walked up the hill from the shore to the main Inca ruins.  We passed through a small village, Challapampa, where they still grow crops on old Inca terracing, although there didn't seem to be much growing.  The Inca ruins were clustered around the sacred rock, Titicaca, which bears the shape of a puma and the face of the Inca god of creation, Viracocha.

Barren-looking Inca terracing

Clem in front of the Inca ruins, with Peru in the distance

The puma on Titicaca, the sacred rock

The ruins were at the northern tip of the island.  From there we took the trail southwards, following the crest of the hills through the centre of the island.  At the highest point we stood at more than 4000m, with stunning views of Lake Titicaca, Isla de la Luna (Sol's smaller neighbour), the Peruvian shore off to the west, and to the east the ice-capped mountains of Bolivia.  The disturbing altitude symptom of feeling breathless after walking up a gentle incline quickly wore off, and after a very enjoyable three-hour trek we arrived at the southern village of Yumani.  This tiny village perched on the edge of the hill is home to a surprising number of hostels and pizzerias, and must be overrun in high season.  At this time of year, thankfully, the village was fairly peaceful, apart from the braying of the many donkeys (which seemed to outnumber the village's human inhabitants).

Isla de la Luna

We soon realised why there were so many donkeys.  The village tumbles down towards the lakeshore at an almost 45 degrees angle, and the only way to get supplies (including water) to the village is back up that slope.  We saw locals walking down the "Inca Steps" to a spring near the shore, with perhaps seven or eight 10-litre water containers ingeniously strapped to their back, driving donkeys ahead of them.  They then filled up the containers and loaded up the donkeys for the journey back up the hill.  The donkeys endured.

At least the donkeys didn't have to carry anything on the way down

One of the hostels we had investigated had a notice asking guests to be considerate with their use of water.  We now understood.

At the bottom of the "Inca steps" was a small harbour from which we would catch the boat back to the mainland the following morning.  In the early evening the main attraction was the view of the Bolivian mountains, illuminated beautifully between layers of cloud above and below.  We must have taken a dozen photos, but here is just one:

Snow-capped mountains in Bolivia to the east

For dinner we chose a small and cozy restaurant at the top of the mountain, with a view west.  We caught the end of the sunset through large menacing clouds that were headed straight for us.  The dark sky was streaked with lightning, and the swiftly-following thunder had our hosts rushing outside to gather in their clothing.  Five minutes later and the downpour had us regretting that our raincoats were sitting on our bed.  The meal of watery soup and chicken a la naranja was not particularly exciting, but it ate up enough time for the rain to pass, and we managed to scurry back to the hostel without a soaking (and, thanks to my headtorch, without stepping in donkeypoo).  The rain returned just after we had arrived back, so we went to bed feeling fairly lucky to be dry.

End of the sunset over Lake Titicaca

We watch the storm roll in from our cosy restaurant