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On friday 13th December I jumped on the bus to Copacabana. It was just 20B from the Cemetery Bus Station and took about 3 hours. I checked into Mirrador Hostel (50B for private room with bathroom & a great view of the lake) and the headed out to try some 'trusha' (trout) which I was told was a must. It was delicious...I had a whole trout for 25B with rice & chips, of course. I took a stroll around the town, visited the cathedral which also had a museum attached to it and then hiked up the hill to the viewpoint, Cerro Cal Vario. The view of the city and the lake was lovely and in the distance you could see Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna. I think the viewpoint is used a lot by the local people as a place to meet for a picnic and drink...and I only know this from all the rubbish they left behind. That was the only disappointing thing about the viewpoint, was how unclean it was. I wanted to grab some plastic bags and start clearing the litter away myself but it may have taken me half a year to do this alone! When the sun set I hiked down and treated myself to some waffles in a cafe with wifi to research about Isla del Sol.
I had a very good sleep in a nice quiet private room - what a treat...it wasn't used to this in La Paz that;s for sure. I jumped on the 8.30am boat to Isla del Sol and started trekking from the North of the island to the South (after having purchased entrance tickets and having a quick tour from a local). I was very lucky with the weather and the walk was enjoyable. The landscape was interesting and you could walk down to beach sections to chill- there weren't that many tourists walking from North to South so I had the beach to myself...oh along with a few cows to keep me company and some noisy seagulls. For me, I didn't feel that the landscape changed much during the walk so I am not sure why this island is talked about so much, but I did have a good day and enjoyed the walk up and down the mountains! It was quite a tiring day and I got caught in heavy rain for about an hour towards the end of the walk...but hey, it all added to the experience. I was then approached by a little kid who asked if I was looking for somewhere to sleep. And I was, so he took me to a local family house which they called a "hostel" to see if I wanted to stay there. There were a lot of hostels around and some looked rather snazzy, but I thought hey why not support the local people here. At least in this house I knew the money would go straight to them and I would be helping the family out. Ok so I did ask for a lower price at 20B for the night, but I agreed to stay with them. I dumped my stuff in the room and went out to explore the very south of the island and walk around the village whilst it was still light outside. During my walk I bumped into some other travellers and we ended up going for dinner and drinks together. It was a lovely evening spent with 2 Austrians, a German, an English and a girl from the Netherlands. We enjoyed pizza and had a few drinks before we braved the storm outside. Luckily I had my head torch with me as it was pitch black outside (obviously no street lights) but my torch didn't help lead me back to my hostel...yes, I got a little lost and wasn't quite sure which street I was meant to be taking so after climbing up the steps, down the steps, and up some more, completely out of breath and drenched from head to toe, I eventually managed to find my family house. I was so happy to put on some dry clothes and jump into bed...I probably fell asleep within 2 minutes of lying down!
In the morning I caught the boat back to Copacabana and spent the morning in 'El Condor' cafe with an English couple...we were delighted to find such incredible food we decided to stay there for breakfast and lunch! It was great chatting with the newly married couple who now live in Bristol before we parted ways and I headed to Puno for 30B. It was an easy 3 hour journey (I count myself lucky as many travellers have ended up getting stuck in strikes/blockades and have had to walk for 2 hours from one bus to the next with all their luggage!)
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