The Island Of The Sun

The trip from La Paz to our final city Copacabana was a nice trip whilst the daylight hours lasted. We even got to see Lake Titicaca, which is one of the highest lakes in the world at 3812 meters above sea level. Once the sun went down, for some reason, the driver started driving like a madman, and we also had to take a rickety wooden ferry across a part of the lake which was the most worrying part, as the bus barely fit on the damn thing.

We quickly found a cheap hostel (we only planned to stay a few days) near the plaza. Copacabana is a very touristy Bolivian town with many different activities. It is well known for the trips to the Isla del Sol (island of the sun), the trout which were introduced to the lake, and of course for Lake Titicaca, a destination I always wanted to go to as a child. The name really fires the imagination, as it was a known religious center for the Incans, and is the largest lake in South America.

Named after the sacred rock, Titikala, the lake contains the island of the sun. Many boats leave in the morning and afternoons for tours to the island, and it was not difficult for us to book onto one of them. Most of the boats follow the same program – they motor to the North of the island first, allow people a few hours hiking or shopping or whatever, and then return via the South of the island.

It was a lovely day, if not a bit chilly because of the altitude and the winds blowing across the lake. Many of the tourists were Westerners, but Bolivians were also visiting with their families. Our boat made it across the lake to the island about 3 hours away. The water was perfectly blue, and the numerous other islands we saw on the way really made the trip worthwhile as the scenery was beautiful.

Once we got to the island, it was easy to see why the Incans had chosen it as their religious center. A rocky island, it was pretty easily defensible from attacks, yet the island and the ones around it were pretty good for farming too. The typical Incan farming terraces were present all over these islands, and we could even see many Incan ruins just from the boat!

We left our boat and headed straight to the museum located there. The museum contained many findings from a site located off shore underwater. Incense burners, urns, and other items decorated with pumas were left there by a pre-Incan culture called the Tiwanaku. These islands were actually inhabited even before this, back to 3000 BC.

We hiked up past incredible views across the bays where the local people were all busy with subsistence farming or selling useless shit to the tourists. We made it up (this was practice for our oncoming Inca Trail trek) to the first set of ruins. An Incan sanctuary, the Isla del Sol was considered the birthplace of the creator called Viracocha. A large sacred rock called the Titikala was credited as the origin of this God, and many Incan ruins surrounded it. We wandered around the Chinkana, a labyrinthine building which probably housed many of the religious leaders of the island. A temple of the sun was also here, and a sacred table that was possibly used for sacrifices. Not much sacred about it now though, as it was covered in tourist tat being sold by a local man.

There are no roads on the island, but the path up to the ruins and back was pretty well paved. We had bought some sandwiches on the island, and so we ate them once we got back to the boat. We waited around a little while for the other people to arrive, and then shipped out to the South of the island.

The main attraction on the South end of the island that we saw were a flight of Incan stairs that were still in use. Either side were some nice water fountains running next to the stairs, along with a pair of statues – an Incan warrior and his wife. The water irrigated Incan gardens which are still kept beautifully. Lots of children were running around trying to sell us tat, along with llamas and pigs wandering around at will. We wondered if their was a school on the island and if these children would ever go to one.

In the afternoon we re-boarded the boat with the other passengers. Many seemed to have stayed on the island, but we were glad to be heading back as one day is enough to see most everything. There were some more hikes, and some people had actually hiked all day from the North to the South across the island. We had heard it was quite a difficult hike, and cold too, so again, we were glad we took the boat!

We saw plenty of ducks on the way back, then, once we got back to Copacabana we rewarded ourselves with a beer whilst we watched the World Cup. We left on the morning of the 7th for Peru and Cusco. After easily crossing the border, we had to switch buses at Puno in Peru, heading towards the Inca Trail.