Lake Titicaca - Copacabana, Bolivia and Puno, Peru

Lake Titicaca is picturesque, glass flat, and has clear water. It's the highest lake in the world, and the largest in South America. 

I started my time there on the Bolivian side, in Copacabana. The town is small, with only a few blocks. It is centered around tourist restaurants and bus transportation. The restaurants all have the same menus mostly, and since the water is not good here, you have to be careful where you go to make sure they are treating their vegetables and boiling their water. I did have good meals at Orilla, Waynu, and la Rosario (although expensive). The restaurant at my hotel was my favorite - great good, awesome view and good prices.

There is a main market area which was interesting - the meat area had everything for sale. I mean everything! I even saw a horse's head. The main attraction in town is a big church with colorful tiled domes. It is really pretty, and the alter is gilded bronze. It was still carnival while I was in town, so everyone was going to church to leave their offerings, and coming by to decorate and bless their cars. Families left flowers at the church alter and placed ribbons and flowers on their cars. To bless their vehicles, they pour out alcohol on them and also to the Mother Earth (Pichu Mama), and a sip for themselves. They also did this to the boat I took to Isle del Sol!

After you see the central town area, which doesn't take but a couple of hours at most, the only thing left to do in town is hike. However, hiking is hard at 4k meters / 12,000 feet +!!! The first evening I hiked to Cerro Calvario for sunset. It was less than a mile up but basically all uphill and stairs. The view was awesome - you could see the whole town. Sunset is supposed to be great here, but it was overcast so I didn't get the full effect.

The Hill you had to hike up

Another day I walked along the water front, around the cove. It was beautiful and I enjoyed the alternative perspective of town. I also enjoyed that it was a flat walk!!

As my main adventure, the second day, I went to Isla del Sol, which is where the Incas believe the Sun started. I started at the North end to the island and hiked to the south end - about 8 miles and a lot of uphills. The island has a lot of indigenous life still with gardens and farms scaling the hillsides, as well as lots of roaming sheep, pigs and donkeys. It was beautiful scenery and great views of the lake. On the hike, I passed through a few ruins. When entering the south town, I got pegged with water balloons for Carnival celebrations. The kids are dangerous!!! And the boy that got me was wearing a Gator jersey! I was trying to explain I liked his shirt and that it was from my school and !pop!, two water balloons were thrown on me, soaking my leg and daypack (which my camera was in!….turns out it did damage it but I've luckily gotten it fixed).

Ruins at the North end of the Island

sacrificial table at the North end

village in the southern end of the island

sheep herding towards the south end of the island

I stayed in Hotel Cupula, which was simple but nice and had great courtyards - with llamas in it! They smell a little though and get curious, so that was not the courtyard I relaxed in. 

The biggest perk though was its hot tub, overlooking the lake. I reserved it for sunset two of the nights. The first night, a storm rolled across the horizon as I sat reading and enjoying some Bolivian wine (which isn't very delicious). The second night the sky lit up spectacularly and changed colors. As it grew later, the Stars creeped over the horizon. I highly recommend staying here or their sister hotel Las Olas (which has really uniquely designed spacious rooms). The hotels are great value!

view while sitting in the hot tub

After Copacabana, I crossed into Peru, which is only 30 minutes away. I went to Puno as a stopping point to catch the bus I wanted to take to Cusco and to see the Uro Islands, which are floating islands.

The floating islands are so cool. They are literally made of piled up grass on top of about a 3 foot block of soil, which makes floating land. There are 87 islands and each one is like a floating family compound or mini street. The houses are made of the same grass as the land is. They even have boats from grass! It was a very unique place to see! They have the tourist visits down though. I didn't take a formal tour, because I arrived at lunch and the organized ones with English guides leave in the morning. So I was on a shuttle boat with a bunch of Peruvian tourists. Me - a single gringa girl! There were some guys who thought it was a novelty that I was there and they were all taking photos with me. I also didn't understand all the history or explanations, but I did really enjoy it. I thought we'd be able to walk around more but since they are all tiny islands, nope! I would recommend looking into the kayak tours to get a closer look, or combining the Uro tour with another area.

central town of an island

Puno as a town wasn't that great. It was a port town and didn't have much character. It warrants a stop to see the floating Islands, but timing it to get in and get out is wise.

I left Puno for Cusco the next morning via a bus that stopped at historical landmarks a long the way. In Cusco, my sister Jackie was meeting me!!

~ travel tips ~

Lonely planet recommends a night on Isla del sol but I disagree. I think you see the whole island as I did in a full day trip. I left at 8:30am on the boat and arrived in the north end at 10:45am. It took a little less than an hour to reach the north point where there are the ruins and sacrificial table. It then took me about 3 hours to walk the length of the island. I got the 3 pm boat back, and the last ones leave at 3:30 I think. There's nothing really in the north in terms of a town. There is a beach people camp on. The south is more of a town and has restaurants and decent hostels. However, the only thing more to do by staying the night is to hike more and visit the small indigenous villages off the side trails. Also if staying, don't bring your full luggage or pack - the walk uphill is no joke! For the day trip, it's recommended to pack your lunch, however I was surprised that there were several tiendas along the way with fruit, snacks and water. A few in the north end even had sandwiches.

Two days in Copacabana was plenty, but three was nice and relaxing. If you arrive in the morning you can see copacabana, including the in town hikes, in one day and do the island the next and leave early the third morning.

Puno can be done in just a few hours so there is the option to arrive at lunch, tour the islands, and leave on a night bus. Your time there centers around what tour you want to do.