Lake Titicaca

I'm going to try the first entry from abroad - excuse the spelling, grammar and punctuation as the keyboard here is the pits. I also don't think I'll be able to post any pictures until I find a better connection

Lake Titicaca and Isla Del Sol surpassed our expectations. We arrived in La Paz on 6 Dec and left immediately for Copacabana on Lake Titicaca - a 3.5 hour bus ride, including a ferry across the lake (passengers on one boat, the bus on the other.) Tried to sleep during the bus ride, but the huge bumps made it impossible. Plus, when we got to Copacabana, we both had to deal with altitude sickness (all better now.)

After two nights in Copacabana, we struck out on our first hike with our HEAVY backpacks. I did okay at first, but started to fade in the middle. Fortunately, we were found by a kid who offered to row us to the island. It took him about 1.5 hours and cost about $6 US. When we got to the island, we camped at the bottom of the hill where the boat left us off (there was no way I was hiking up to the top at that point!)

The night was cold, but the next morning was gorgeous and sunny, and we hiked up the mountain to a great hotel overlooking the sea (US$5 per night). Obviously, we decided to stay two nights. There are no cars on the island, but lots of donkeys to carry supplies up and down from the boats. And the scenery is like looking at the Agean Sea from Crete, only less developed, so maybe even more beautiful. The next day, we took a long day hike (sans backpacks) around the island to see the inca ruins and admire the beauty It was fantastic. The days are hot, because we are so close to the sun, but the nights are cold. We've been going to bed early (Matthias' regular bedtime) because there's not much to do on the island after sundown.

Now we're back in Copacabana and have our first day of rain. Tomorrow we leave for La Paz and then to Coroico in the Yungas (fog forest of the Andes.) Will probably do another update next week.