Isla del Sol - the Prettiest Place on Earth

We arrived at on Saturday at Copacabana, a small town on the edge of Lake Titicaca and promptly left for the nearby island of Isla del Sol, the place where the Inca empire was borne and a very scared place for Incas. After a ropey hour and a half on a small boat we arrived at the Island. I wasn´t feeling too great and really wanted to stay in Copacabana after hearing good reports of the town, but Stu was keen to get straight to the island - I have to say this was the best move yet. As you arrive at the island you first see a gentle waterfall down a steep hill - this is the natural spring trickling down the hillside that has been cultivated into pretty garden terraces. Next to the stream is a stone staircase and the only route up to the village at the south side of the island. The trickling water simply complements the tranquility you feel when you first arrive - it really is lovely. There are no cars and no roads on this island and all the inhabitants live a very traditional lifestyle mainly farming or looking after the tourists.

We were greeted by a handful of touts all demanding our attention and trying to sell the rooms in their hostals. We seemed to get attached to one young man, who we followed up the stairwell. Halfway up, we needed a rest - we were at 3,500m, the staircase was extremely steep (and about 50 steep steps), we were carrying our huge, heavy backpacks and our lungs just couldn´t cope. The lovely young lad, kindly offered to take my backpack and I gladly gave it to him, thinking the hostel was at the top of the stairs. Twenty five minutes later, we were still going up the hill and we didn´t seem to be near the hostel. The young lad kept saying "arriba, arriba", roughly translated "to the top" and soon after we were found the hostel, absolutely exhausted and a little guilty after he carried my rucksack virtually all the way - there was no way we couldn´t stay at this hostal now! We were glad to have finally made it and were rewarded with a really pretty house and the most amazing views across Lake Titicaca. It was mid afternoon, so we sat down on the terrace, literally overhanging the steep hill, and enjoyed a cold beer as the sun set over the hills in the distance and an eerie mist set in (see photo above).

This really is the best place we´ve been so far. The views from the hills are truely magnificent and the village is somewhat unspoilt by commercialism driven by tourism. There are plenty of hostels and restaurants, but there is little or no sales pressure and the place was generally quiet. This seems the Bolivian way, but we were also blessed with being here before the high-season. That night we went to a restaurant across the road and the owner had to keep nipping out to buy the various elements he had promised to cook us. We all tucked into trout from the lake, washed down with a few more beers.

The next day we walked to the other north side of island to the Titicaca Rock and a special site of Inca ruins. This was a reasonably tough 3 hours with a few hills to challenge you at altitude, but since the trail is at the top of the hill, incredible views are provided either side. These are either across the lake to Peru and Bolivia (depending what side you´re looking at) or down into small coves with clearest, blue water lapping white sandy shores. The local people are dotted around the cultivated hillsides looking after their small flocks of sheep and few donkeys. There are plenty of eucalyptus trees and the landscape kind of reminded me of Mediterranean island, although Isla del Sol is a touch more special due to the mysticism from the Inca ruins.

After walking round the ruins and understanding most of what the guide was saying (our Spanish is improving), we walked the 40 minutes to the northern village, had some lunch and caught the boat back to the south side, and again, sat on our terrace in awe of the view in front of us.