Dan, Alex and I arrived in Copacabana in the early evening, and while Dan chatted happily away in Spanish int he phone to book a hotel for us, Alex and I chatted about university life. Alex will be going to Nottingham uni after his year out, while Dan will be going to Manchester. We decided upon Hotel Mirador, which was right on the beach of Lake Titicaca.

The hotel was nice, better than the hostels I was used to, and the views from my ample sized room were fantastic. I had a high view of the Lake, which would get the sun early in the morning. We decided that the next day would be a chill out day, as we wanted to watch Liverpool in the Champions League Semi Final second leg against Chelsea. We chose a bar and got front row seats by turning up early. Liverpool eventually won the game on penalties after taking the tie to a 1-1 draw on aggregate. As soon as the game was over, we left to climb a nearby mountain which had some great views of the area, as well as some Spanish and Inca ruins. We made it just in time for sunset, which was cool, then headed back to the hotel.

The next day, I booked myself on a morning tour of Isla Del Sol, or Island of the Sun, wihch is sacred to the Incas and Peruvians as they believe it is the birthplace of their sungod. At this point, I said goodbye to Alex and Dan as they would go for the day to Isla Del Sol, so who knows when I will see tem next? On my boat, I got chatting to two guys who were on a short holiday, their names were Miguel and Javier. They work as pilots for a Peruvian airline that flies all over South America. Their English was quite good so we talked for almost all of the hour or so boat journey.

We talked about allsorts, including the mysteries of Lake Titicaca. It was Javier, not I, who mentioned that there are rumours of a UFO Base at the bottom of Lake Titicaca. He then told me how his father-in-law, who is high up in the Peruvian Navy, said those in the higher echelons of power in Peru have had contact with aliens. Javier, an experienced pilot of 30 years, also told me he saw a UFO whilst flying over the Atacama desert 10 years ago. Interesting stuff, but I´m yet to see one.

As we disembarked to the mainland, one of the main Inca constructions still in operation was the stone-stepped waterfall, which provides irrigation to the terraces and usuable water for the people below. On the path, we met many llamas, donkeys and a dog that decided to follow our one hour journey through the island to the south. After seeing the Temple of the Sun as the last ruin on our walk, we boarded the waiting boat to take us back to the mainland. As we left, I looked back and saw the dog standing on the jetty, eyes fixed on our boat, as it became ever smaller to him. He briefly looked down then back to the disappearing boat. I felt bad for the dog! Just as he´d made some friends, we were gone! After an hour, we were back, which gave me about 30 minutes before I had to board my bus, bound for Cusco.