After our homestay, Jake, Farima, and I caught the early bus to Copacabana from Puno. When we arrived, Jake ran into a friend, Bobby, he had met previously traveling so we all decided to stay at the same hostel. The four us walked around town, grabbed a cup of coffee, then decided to grab a drink at a rooftop bar while watching the sunset.
We made plans to head to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) the next day, another island on Lake Titicaca. This island was once the most important religious site in Bolivia, known as the place where the sun and moon were created. We took a boat from Copacabana to the northern end of Isla del Sol, Ch’allapampa, and hiked the length of the island heading south to Yumani, which took us around 3 hours. During the hike, we decided to go off the trail at one point to avoid one of the Lake Titicaca taxes we would have been required to pay otherwise. This resulted in us walking through crops and jumping a barbed wire fence, which was quite an adventure and a memorable detour on its own. We eventually found our way back to the main trail head. On our way down, we kept running into signs that pointed towards a pizzeria with a famous chef. After a bit more walking uphill and through eucalyptus trees as we were guided by mountain signs, we found ourselves in our own little paradise. The restaurant was situated on top of the hill with cute little tables and chairs made out of tree and breathtaking panoramic views of the lake. Although the menu and the prices were not what we were used to in Bolivia, we decided to treat ourselves and enjoyed a delicious meal while taking in the views.
After lunch and once we reached the southern end of the island, we found a cute little place to stay with gorgeous views overlooking Lake Titicaca, all for only $7. We enjoyed the view from our room for a while, got ready and then headed back up the hill to watch the sunset. We grabbed a bottle of wine and some snacks and the four of us found our own perfect little spot to watch the sunset. Even though the mountains blocked our view from seeing the sun completely set, it was still a beautiful sight.
After the sunset, we grabbed dinner at a pizza place nearby and then headed back to our hotel for an early night so we could wake up and catch the sunrise. The sunrise ended up being just as beautiful and we were lucky to be able to watch it from the balcony of our room! Afterwards, we headed down to the southern port to catch our boat back to Copacabana. Jake, Bobby, Farima and I then caught the 1 pm bus (we really like bus rides) to La Paz, just in time for the weekend.
Edited by: Farima M.
