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After a nice bit of rest and recuperation in our lovely suite, we ventured out into the big wide world again and caught a boat to nearby Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun). We spent two hours travelling to the northern town on the island in a fume-filled boat so arrived not feeling our best. The island wasn't very far away but they go really slowly to save fuel.
It was a beautiful sunny day though and we set off on our walk to the south of the island. Unfortunately pretty early on I (Katy) discovered that I was still feeling the effects of the altitude. Particularly the first half of the walk, which was mostly uphill, was not enjoyable at all, despite the scenery being beautiful. Struggling to breathe and put one foot in front of the other, and particularly after not being that well for the last two weeks, was really frustrating and at the time I really didn't want to be there. But with some motivational support from Simon, I managed to keep going.
The first part of the walk took us up to some Inca ruins, which we didn't see much of because I just wanted to keep going. At this point we were surrounded by loads of tourists who were on a day tour as we walked past bays of clear blue water and up the hill. After the ruins, we left a lot of tourists behind to carry on walking to the south town where we would spend the night. The walk took us along the ridge of the island where we could see over both sides. Or rather Simon could as I trudged my wobbly way along, mostly looking at the stony path.
We'd had to pay a small amount to go on the path to the ruins then had to pay twice more towards the upkeep of the path and the two communities we walked through. At all paying places, they'd all got themselves professionally printed books of tickets.
After about four and a half hours we reached the southern town of Yungas, which is the town most set up for tourists. We soon got approached by a child wanting to show us some accommodation. We turned down the first one but when the second one approached we followed him to the first of his selection. It wasn't quite what we were after so after politely declining the room from a very smiley lady, he took us to the next one. Here we were met by another friendly woman in traditional dress and were shown to a room with amazing views over the lake which we accepted. I'm sure we could have found lots of cheaper rooms but it seemed a shame to pass up on the view.
By this point I had recovered a bit after walking on the flat and could finally appreciate the beauty of the place, looking out towards the lake with the sun shimmering on the blue water, accompanied by the sound of braying donkeys. We had a well deserved rest then ventured out to our dinner recommendation, a restaurant run by a gourmet chef and his wife who decided they preferred the tranquil island life. We put in our food order and went outside to watch the sunset: really stunning. As the sunset was coming to an end we went inside to watch the last of it and to eat our dinner by candlelight. The restaurant, called Las Velas (the candles) has no electricity and sits at 4010m. I ordered trout which was cooked beautifully in a wine sauce with herbs and onions, accompanied by local quinoa and veg. Simon went for a pizza which he also really enjoyed. The setting was wonderful and the owner was really friendly. It was a bit more expensive for Bolivian standards but at just under £5, I thought my trout was a bargain. We were given the guest book and coloured pens to write in and then the owner presented us with small rosettes in the colours of the Bolivian flag, "for Christmas".
As we left the restaurant to find our way back to the hotel by torchlight, we bumped into a German girl who couldn't afford to eat there. It turns out she'd been sold a $150 tour from La Paz, everything included, but actually all that was included was two nights accommodation and then she found there are no ATMs on the island. We agreed to walk her back to her hostel as she had no torch and there weren't many street lights but it quickly became apparent that she had no idea where her hostel was! After walking around the extremely uneven streets, through residential parts where we could hear but not see various donkeys etc, we managed to help her find it. Phew! By this point we were quite a long way down the hill so had to trudge back up to our hotel but were rewarded by being able to look at thousands of stars in the clear night sky.
The next morning after some breakfast, we made our way slowly down the hill to the dock in the cold and rain; a bit different from yesterday. The rain wasn't too heavy but got heavier after we had bought our boat tickets but we found some shelter. The boat was a bit later than we thought so it was a bit of a chilly wait but we got talking to an Austrian girl and were also entertained by a small girl who was with her Mum who was there to sell souvenirs to tourists. She entertained herself for ages with a counting song which only seemed to contain the numbers 8 and 10!
The boat was slightly less fume-filled which was a relief. We arrived back in Copacabana and went straight to one of the trout kiosks for lunch then to the market for dinner and breakfast supplies. Then we were back at the beautiful Las Olas for one more night in a different suite. We had a very private bit of garden where we spent most of the afternoon in hammocks as the weather had cleared up. For some of the afternoon we were joined by the four Alpacas which was nice. Although the naughty one had to be pushed away a few times when he tried to get a bit close for comfort. I think if he could, he might have got in the hammock. We were treated to one last beautiful sunset as we cooked and ate dinner and then went to sleep in the biggest bed I've ever seen.
We were really glad we'd spent so much time at Las Olas but it was time to move on to La Paz and back to city chaos.
Katy
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