Our first stop in Bolivia was Copacabana. Not to be confused with it's namesake, its more cuppa than ciparinia weather. Right on the edge of Lake Titicaca, it's a really pretty little town. We spent the night at hostel Cupula (http://www.hotelcupula.com/), tucked into some delicious local trout, went to the markets and watched the weekend dancing in the plaza.
The next morning we caught a boat across the lake to Isla del Sol for a couple of days hiking the old Inca trails. Inca legend says the sun god was born on the island - there are over 80 Inca ruins there. I think the pictures will say it all, it was just a beautiful by day as by night. Thousands of stars sparkled at night.
We always meet lovely people where we least expect too. We got along great with an Aussie couple, Mel and Paul and a fellow Londoner, Steve. We made a good drinking and hiking team.
We saw the worlds cutest baby donkey, incredibly fluffy to keep out the -0 degree temperatures at night. With no roads, everyone seems to own at donkey or three.
The local people live a really traditional life farming and fishing but don't seem to mind the odd tourist enjoying the island too. They make a few dollars off old fashioned 'road tax' for using the trails and renting rooms.
Two days later, we hiked southwards on the island and hitched a little speed boat back across to Yampupata, a village 20kms from Copacabana. Hiking our way back to town over the hills, through the local farms made another beautiful walk.
Bolivia is beautiful; sunny days, clear starry nights and always an incredible view of snow capped mountains. The locals wear clothes full of colour and I love the bell-shaped ladies hats. The people are happy to see you but you can also see it is very tough living here. We met some people with some hard stories to tell.
But being the least visited country in South America, Bolivia seems to forgo the usual 'tourist tax' . It is insanely cheap - we can eat like kings for $5 and our lake view room cost us just $4 a night!
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