Getting Closer to the Sun on Isla del Sol

Great News: We’re happy to report that as of April 2023, the north of Isla del Sol island on Lake Titicaca is open to tourists. Having read many reports of it being closed off, we weren’t really sure we’d be able to go until we actually made it to the island. It’s a small slice of Bolivian farming life on the highest navigable lake in the world.

First Stop: Copacabana

As we hop off the bus it starts to rain again. It’s about 12C with a cool wind. Not exactly the warm beach weather we’d imagined for a couple of days on Lake Titicaca.

It’s been a planes, trains and automobiles kind of day and this last walk up the steep streets to the hotel pushes the limits of Al’s altitude-weary body. We’d been up before dawn to catch the plane from Salta to La Paz, then a crazy cab ride through the Thursday market madness of El Alto to grab a bus ‘ahorita’ (right now!) for a three hour trip (punctuated by a 15 minute interlude when everyone had to get off the bus to take a separate small boat across a narrow channel before re boarding the bus for another hour).

But we’d made it to Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

(Not That Copacabana)

Copacabana, Bolivia sits in a wide bay on the shores of Lake Titicaca at 3,800m. It feels a little like old school Thailand, with large patios cafes and restaurants lining the main street. About 50 boats are anchored in the bay waiting to take people on day trips or across to the islands. We’re here in low season but then again it’s never really warm here, with the average daily mix between 12 – 15C the entire year.

Copacabana from our hostal room

New car owners from all over Bolivia drive to Copacabana to have their cars blessed at the Cathedral

Heading North

The reason we’re here is not the ‘beachside’ town of Copacabana itself, but the island that lies just off the coast: Isla del Sol. Now that we know that the north end of the island is open and safe, we’ll be heading there to start our explorations of this ancient Incan site.

The next day the weather hasn’t improved much as dark clouds hang over the town, so we opt for the afternoon ferry to the north shore of the Isla del Sol.

As anyone who’s done much travelling in developing countries knows, ‘ferry’ is a word with a very wide scope of definition. The ‘ferry’ we are catching is a small boat with two 50 horse power outboard motors. Not surprisingly it’s quite a slow journey as it carries two dozen of us, plus the load of food and drinks the locals are bringing, the 20 km from Copacabana to the town of Challapaa on the north shore of the island. One and a half hours to be exact.

As the boat slowly chugs its way from the mainland the clouds disperse, and by the time we arrive at the island it’s warm and sunny. Warm enough that our fellow hostellers promptly drop their bags and set themselves up on the lounge chairs in front of the Willka Kuti hostel to sun themselves as they look out over the beach and lake. Al looks longingly at them as they open a beer in the warm sunshine, but Michelle has other plans.

Our view… not to be. 

We’ve been sitting all morning so Michelle insists we walk to the northern tip of the island to check out the Incan ruins. The beer can wait.

We walk along the beach, following the curve of the bay and when we reach the end a stone path leads up between some houses and fields containing donkeys, llamas, sheep and cows. There are no cars and no roads on the island. Everyone walks everywhere, often carrying large loads wrapped in blankets. There are some donkeys but they are reserved for carrying heavy stuff, including the occasional tourist apparently.

Speak to me. Tell me thy wisdom.

Incan Ruins on Isla del Sol

The island of Isla del Sol is famous for its importance in the Incan Empire. There’s evidence of the Incas all around us but we don’t realize this at first because it’s been integrated into the infrastructure used by the native people that live here today. The stone path we’re walking on was built by the Incas, and a wall that sits in a field by the school is also Incan.

As we head across from one bay to the next we walk between fields of maize and broad beans jut starting to flower. The fields are terraced into tiny plots that extend out onto the headland and are even on the steepest parts. Some are fallow, but many are filled with green crops. From the boat we’d seen the steep hills of the island covered in long horizontal lines which we now realize are these terraced fields. These were in fact built by the Incas almost 700 years ago and are still very much in use today.

The view of the bays and the headlands look almost Mediterranean, but this water is far from warm. Lake Titicaca is 3,800m above sea level and the water is cold. We walk further, following the curve of the land. Leaving the green crops behind, the stone path changes to sandstone. After about 20 minutes we reach the main attraction: the Mesa Ceremonica and Chincana.

The Mesa Ceremonica is a table at which sacrifices were made by the Incas. As we sit at this high point of the island’s north shore and look out over Lake Titicaca we can understand why it’s been a sacred place of myth and legend for so long. From here we can see the mountains peaks of Bolivia to the East and Peru to the West and somewhere in that direction lies Machu Picchu.

Further on is the even more intriguing Chincana. The remains of a small complex of rooms with short winding corridors give rise to its name of the Labyrinth. There are diffferent stories about the purpose of this area including its use to store the sacred corn grown on the island, as well as to house the women who cared for the area.

We didn’t see Titi Khar´ka (Rock of the Puma), which gives the lake its name, but it is here close by. This area was sacred to the Incas as they believed it was the birthplace of the sun and of Incan people. Before the Incas it was also a sacred site for the large Tiwanku civilisation in the 9th century.

Also curious is what has been found beneath the waters of Titicaca, not far from Copacabana. Just 10 years ago evidence of a city was found and there’s a local project to develop an underwater museum with the help of UNESCO.

Challapampa

We turn back before we lose the light and return to our home for tonight, the tiny Aymara native community. of Challapampa.

The town is rustic and very different to any other towns we’ve visited in Bolivia. As we walk along the road to pick a restaurant for dinner a couple of pigs scratch themselves on a pen, chicken wander past and young kids call out hola and smile. It’s not in novelty, it’s just that everyone here greets each other.

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The legacy of tourism’s highs and lows is evident in the abandoned hotels and restaurants.

Planning these few days had been a bit frustrating. Our friend Ali had recommended we visit, and bloggers we’d read had concurred. Its historical and cultural significance, and the chance to experience some quiet Bolivian countryside life sounded interesting. But all the advice we read online came with the caveat that as of 2017 tourists couldn’t access the north of the island where the best of the attractions are to be found.

In 2017 there was disagreement between two of the groups who live on the island. One group burned down a set of chalets that they believed had been built on sacred land by the other group. The disagreement escalated and resulted in tourists being blocked from accessing the north of the island. In 2019 an agreement was signed and access opened again.

2019 coming directly before 2020 – 2021 and all the fun of those years, there have been very few tourists and even fewer writing about the situation online to help fellow travellers.

It’s hard to believe these people, who seem so calm and peaceful, could be agitated enough to burn down a building. The competition for the tourist dollar has something to answer for. When we meet our hostel host Freddie he hugs us both and thanks us profusely for coming and tells us the money we’re paying is helping his family.

As the sun sets and is reflected in the mountains, we enjoy a very tasty piece of grilled trout, fresh from the lake with white rice and vegetables. It’s our 23rd anniversary so we splash out on a bottle of Bolivian wine. The bill comes to a total of about $22 Canadian. Possibly our cheapest anniversary dinner ever.

Willa Thaki Trail

M: Just as well we’re doing this now, while we still can, and not when we’re 65
A: (Wheezing) Yeah…
M: When we’re 65 I’ll find somewhere else
A: Someone else??!!
M: No…

The next day it’s a warm, sunny day and we’re walking the 9km of the island from north to south along the central ridge. It’s an Incan route known as the Willa Thaki Trail, or the sacred route of the eternal sun. Or in Al’s altitude stressed mind, the route of the eternal lack of oxygen.

You can see why the Incas came up with the story that the island rose out of the lake. With a ridge that runs the length of the Island it looks remarkably like a beast rising up by its spine with the mountainsides dropping away into the lake on either side.

As we look around and see all the fertile land and crops thriving we can’t help but think that the Incas may have had more than a bit of sun worship in mind when they took over the island from the tribes that lived here for a thousand or so years before. We don’t see any real Inca ruins on the way but the view is beautiful. We even pass through a small forest of Eucalyptus trees. After three hours we reach the edge of Yumani village on the southern shore and stop at the ecolodge for some delicious fresh tropical juices.

Further along we pass several small restaurants perched up on the mountainside with beautiful views out over the lake. We’re tempted to stop but then we might never get going again.

The old stone route becomes a path of stepping stones leading down the steep hill further into the village. There’s no street names, and it’s not really clear exactly how we get to our hotel. Google is telling us down but we really don’t want to go down if it then means coming back up the steep stone steps.

We finally make it to our hotel and sit on the balcony overlooking the lake, as we watch people climb up and down the impossibly steep steps to and from the boats arriving in the bay. At one point two donkeys climb past carrying two crates of beer bottles each. We’re feeling bad for them having to lug those loads so the likes of us can enjoy a beer. Then, a few minutes later the donkeys get their revenge.

We hear a commotion up the hill from us and the donkeys down the hill look up, ears pricked. Looking up we see the two donkeys from earlier running along the hill, crates falling and beer spilling from their sides. The poor local leading them has given up and he lets the donkeys run until we can’t see them anymore. Freedom!

Isla del Sol: Cold Nights and Warm Blankets

We are the only people staying in our hotel and our hostess makes us dinner as her daughter does her homework. Our hostess explains how there are 1,000 families who live on the island. Everyone here grows potatoes, maize and broad beans which they sell at the market in Copacabana.

It’s cold on the island and there’s no heat. Instead we climb into bed under a pile of heavy blankets. Toasty warm before long. Overnight there’s a huge storm and we wake to see hail settled on the fields. It’s still raining on and off so we decide not to stay and see the other larger Incan ruin, the Templo el Sol.

Back to Copacabana and on to La Paz

We take the morning ferry back to Copacabana on a boat that makes our previous ferry look like a luxury cruiser.

We arrive back in Copacabana after a choking trip on two stroke fumes in the tiny boat. The town is a little busier than when we left a few days before. Possibly because the border has just opened again to Peru after political disruptions several months ago. This is a common stop in the backpacker trail between Bolivia to Peru.

But we’re not going to Peru just yet. We’re heading to Ecuador first and then Peru, hoping to arrive just when the weather starts to get drier and clearer there.

We take the 10am bus to La Paz on a coach. Unlike on the first trip, this time the bus driver told us it was fine to stay on the bus as it drove on to a flat bed ferry which sat uncomfortably low in the water. The base was a ramshackle collection of pieces of wood it appeared they’d just found lying around. The reason they move at a snails pace across the narrow waterway became clear when the young guy fired up 2 x 24 horse power outboard – this to push a large coach and a car across in the least efficiently shaped craft possible.

Isla del Sol: In a Nutshell

La Paz to Copacabana
If you’re flying into La Paz, it works well to go directly to Copacabana from the El Alto bus terminal rather than going into La Paz and out again. You save an hour or two of travel.

• La Paz domestic airport is 15min by taxi to Terminal Interprovincial El Alto. It was 50Bs (not 80 as our first cab driver tried to charge). Negotiate the fare before you get in the cab.
• From El Alto terminal coaches and mini buses leave every half an hour / when they are full. It cost us 20Bs pp for a coach. Seats 1 and 2 had lots of leg room. It takes 3 and a half hours total.
• It takes 2 hours to get to San Pablo de Tiquina where the bus is taken over a narrow stretch of the lake on a boat. Everyone got off the bus and paid 2Bols to take a smaller boat over in about 10 minutes.
• Once on the other side, everyone walks through to the plaza where the bus picks you up. There’s food drinks and toilets. Make sure you are there as the driver doesn’t check to make sure all the passengers are on board. It’s another hour from there to Copacabana.

Ferries to Isla del Sol

• Ferries leave twice a day to either end of the island. When we were there the north shore ferries left at 9:30am and 1:30pm. It cost 30 Bs one way.
• You can buy tickets the day you leave but it’s a good idea to check the times the day before.
  There are only two companies that go to the north shore. Ask around because some people will tell you there’s no afternoon ferry.
• We took a photo of the shop where we bought our ticket which turned out to be a good idea. As we boarded the boat they wanted to know where we bought our ticket.

Ferries from the south shore back to Copacabana ran at 10:30am and 4pm. You can buy tickets at the dock.

We were in Copacabana in a lower season but it seems like it is easy to arrive and book anything you need.

Bus tickets, ferry tickets and hostels / hotels can all be found as you arrive. Only some of the hotels are available to book online and it seems they are possibly more expensive that way.

The bus back to central La Paz was 30 Bs

There are no ATMs on the island and people don’t take credit cards so have enough cash.

In Copacabana we stayed in La Cupula hotel. Los Olas is right next door and was also recommended. It has very cool looking rooms and is slightly closer to the water.