I had a strange start to a marvellous time on the Isla del Sol. I was feeling bad about going to the island because I was worried about the snow at home and Jo getting to the airport and flying in bad conditions, so it wasn’t a good start. Next I was ripped off, I had wanted to go to the north of the island and paid over the odds anyway and because my Spanish isn’t good enough I couldn’t explain when I got to the south that the boat was supposed to take me to the north. (I am determined to learn Spanish when I get home!)
There was nothing I could do so just decided to get on with it and climb the incredibly long and steep Inca steps to the small town of Yumani ( I did have o sit down half way up and have a good cry but then felt a bit better!) I really don’t know how I got to the top, or in fact how anyone gets to the top! I was quickly nabbed by locals and given a room to stay in.
In mythology Isla del Sol is the birthplace of the sun and it is an amazing place. There are no roads and no noise, it is hard to explain how deafening the lack of noise was, just nothing, except my tinnitus of course! Where ever you looked there were spectacular views of the lake. My room was basic but the view was incredible. The town, well very small village, consisted of hostels and a few places to eat although because it is not tourist season only a few places were open. I ended up going into someone’s house and they cooked me some vegetables mixed with cheese, some chips and rice!
I have realised that I only need to make contact with a couple of people in a day and my social needs are satisfied, in fact just a couple of smiles even seem to do the trick! In the evening the only thing to do was to read and go to bed very early. After a restless nights sleep due to the total silence and the cold and the terrible smell of sewerage, I was awake by 4.30am and decided that I wouldn’t stay another night but would set off for the walk round the island early and get the afternoon ferry.
The hike around the island was spectacular, in a lot of ways it reminded me of a Greek island, the same smells, the heat, the beautiful azure sea, although of course this is a lake and not a sea, which still seems impossible. From one end of the island to the other is 11km and I did the circular trail, so it was 22km, with lots of hills, very rough terrain and high altitude, up to 4,300 meters. In all that time I saw one other tourist, an English lad and half a dozen locals, taking their sheep out or walking to their homes. I walked through villages which were absolutely silent and seemed completely deserted, on beaches that were completely empty except a few pigs or donkeys in the water. The terrain would change from cliff faces to arable land, to beaches, forests and mountains and all the time there was silence except for the sound of the occasional bird, insect, pig, sheep or donkey… It was a surreal experience! Towards the end I had run out of water and really didn’t think I would make it, but I did.
I was just walking and observing, but people live on this island and live such tough lives. I passed one school, so if the children go to school some of them must have to walk 2 or 3 hours each way.
I got back in time to catch the ferry, just myself and an Australian couple (Australian’s always seem to have had amazing experiences!) the more I speak to people the more places I realise I need to go, I now have a long list once I have earnt some money! Last week the couple had walked the Inca trail and I was saying that I really wasn’t fit enough to do a long hike and they said that they thought the walk round the island was no tougher than the Inca trail and they had only managed to get half way round the island so that obviously made me feel good, especially as I have been doing so little exercise while I’ve been away.
Back to Copacabana for the night and then out of Bolivia back into Peru. The little I have seen of Bolivia I really like and wish I could have spent more time here. Obviously the majority of people in Peru are very poor but in Bolivia the poverty is more striking, but the people are more unassuming. In Peru you get hassled to buy things or give money but I haven’t found that so much in Bolivia.
It is funny how the same people keep showing up. The French lad we met on the boat on the Amazon and then I met again on a raft in Ariquipa, I bumped into him in a shop in La Paz. Today on the bus I sat next to an Irish girl that I had taken a tour with in La Paz. Everyone has so many stories to tell but I don’t seem to meet many people my age. Two days ago on the road from Copacabana to La Paz there was a major accident, a tourist bus collided into a cement lorry and 5 Europeans were killed and 28 injured, it was shocking to see the bus still by the side of the road and the state it was in. Even more shocking was the fact that it was a perfectly straight road, unlike most of the roads I’ve travelled on, still, accidents happen everywhere.
Am staying at a nice hostel that the Australian couple recommended and am just doing a half day trip tomorrow to the floating islands. I chatted briefly to Jodie who has arrived on her Caribbean Island after 34 hours travelling, to be greeted by a national state of emergency. The whole Island is flooded and thousands are homeless… The Heaven’s seem to open when the Heavens arrive!
There was nothing I could do so just decided to get on with it and climb the incredibly long and steep Inca steps to the small town of Yumani ( I did have o sit down half way up and have a good cry but then felt a bit better!) I really don’t know how I got to the top, or in fact how anyone gets to the top! I was quickly nabbed by locals and given a room to stay in.
In mythology Isla del Sol is the birthplace of the sun and it is an amazing place. There are no roads and no noise, it is hard to explain how deafening the lack of noise was, just nothing, except my tinnitus of course! Where ever you looked there were spectacular views of the lake. My room was basic but the view was incredible. The town, well very small village, consisted of hostels and a few places to eat although because it is not tourist season only a few places were open. I ended up going into someone’s house and they cooked me some vegetables mixed with cheese, some chips and rice!
I have realised that I only need to make contact with a couple of people in a day and my social needs are satisfied, in fact just a couple of smiles even seem to do the trick! In the evening the only thing to do was to read and go to bed very early. After a restless nights sleep due to the total silence and the cold and the terrible smell of sewerage, I was awake by 4.30am and decided that I wouldn’t stay another night but would set off for the walk round the island early and get the afternoon ferry.
The hike around the island was spectacular, in a lot of ways it reminded me of a Greek island, the same smells, the heat, the beautiful azure sea, although of course this is a lake and not a sea, which still seems impossible. From one end of the island to the other is 11km and I did the circular trail, so it was 22km, with lots of hills, very rough terrain and high altitude, up to 4,300 meters. In all that time I saw one other tourist, an English lad and half a dozen locals, taking their sheep out or walking to their homes. I walked through villages which were absolutely silent and seemed completely deserted, on beaches that were completely empty except a few pigs or donkeys in the water. The terrain would change from cliff faces to arable land, to beaches, forests and mountains and all the time there was silence except for the sound of the occasional bird, insect, pig, sheep or donkey… It was a surreal experience! Towards the end I had run out of water and really didn’t think I would make it, but I did.
I was just walking and observing, but people live on this island and live such tough lives. I passed one school, so if the children go to school some of them must have to walk 2 or 3 hours each way.
I got back in time to catch the ferry, just myself and an Australian couple (Australian’s always seem to have had amazing experiences!) the more I speak to people the more places I realise I need to go, I now have a long list once I have earnt some money! Last week the couple had walked the Inca trail and I was saying that I really wasn’t fit enough to do a long hike and they said that they thought the walk round the island was no tougher than the Inca trail and they had only managed to get half way round the island so that obviously made me feel good, especially as I have been doing so little exercise while I’ve been away.
Back to Copacabana for the night and then out of Bolivia back into Peru. The little I have seen of Bolivia I really like and wish I could have spent more time here. Obviously the majority of people in Peru are very poor but in Bolivia the poverty is more striking, but the people are more unassuming. In Peru you get hassled to buy things or give money but I haven’t found that so much in Bolivia.
It is funny how the same people keep showing up. The French lad we met on the boat on the Amazon and then I met again on a raft in Ariquipa, I bumped into him in a shop in La Paz. Today on the bus I sat next to an Irish girl that I had taken a tour with in La Paz. Everyone has so many stories to tell but I don’t seem to meet many people my age. Two days ago on the road from Copacabana to La Paz there was a major accident, a tourist bus collided into a cement lorry and 5 Europeans were killed and 28 injured, it was shocking to see the bus still by the side of the road and the state it was in. Even more shocking was the fact that it was a perfectly straight road, unlike most of the roads I’ve travelled on, still, accidents happen everywhere.
Am staying at a nice hostel that the Australian couple recommended and am just doing a half day trip tomorrow to the floating islands. I chatted briefly to Jodie who has arrived on her Caribbean Island after 34 hours travelling, to be greeted by a national state of emergency. The whole Island is flooded and thousands are homeless… The Heaven’s seem to open when the Heavens arrive!
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