We arrived in to Copacabana after crossing the border from Peru to Bolivia. Once across the border it was a short journey along the shoreline of Lake Titicaca until we arrived in Copacabana. On arrival in Copacabana we were immediately struck by how touristy it was. Everything in the town is geared towards extracting money from tourist visiting Lake Titicaca and in particular Isla Del Sol. We went to the tourist office for a map and a recommendation of where to find hostels. We walked down the main street and eventually settled on a Hostel International affiliated hotel. The hotel itself was a throwback to the seventies with very chintzy rooms coupled with floral curtains and silk bed sheets. Still it was clean enough and with enough manipulation of the neck you could get a view of Lake Titicaca. Our first port of call was a cafe to get some breakfast, we went to somewhere highly recommended in the Lonely Planet but were slightly disappointed by our wafer thin sandwiches on stale bread. After breakfast we went up to the bank to get out some Bolivianos, unbelievably the bank didn't accept foreign cards so the only way to get money was by getting a cash advance on a credit card and paying a whopping 5% fee for the pleasure. With money in our wallet we wandered around Copacabana humming the Barry Manilow classic the whole way around. Once our walk was over we headed down to the water front to share a big beer and take in the view. Directly ahead of us was the Isla Del Sol where we were going to go the next day. We had to buy our tickets for the boat the next day so we went to the ticket office where we were given the option of staying one night on the island or returning the same day, we decided to stay one night on the island. After running our errands we went for a slightly late and very large lunch, after which the lack of sleep from the night bus caught up with us so we went for a nap. It is a very familiar theme that the arrival day after a night bus journey always involves a nap for me at least, Sue is far more resilient. After our nap we really didn't feel like going out for dinner so we grabbed a couple of snacks from a local convenience store and wasted away what was left of the evening before heading back to our unwelcoming silk sheets. The following morning we were up early ready to head out on to Lake Titicaca on route to Isla Del Sol. Lake Titicaca is often purported to be the highest natural lake in the world, whilst this isn't true it's sheer size coupled with its altitude make it a wondrous place to visit. We boarded a boat packed full with plenty of other backpackers as it slowly, and I mean very slowly, made its way over to Isla Del Sol. We were heading to the far side of the island with the intention of taking a 4 hour walk over the island back to main settlement on the side nearer Copacabana; at least the boat ride back would be quicker. On arrival on the island we got the necessary items at a local convenience store, two bottles of water, fruit and a Twix. Now that we were prepared we headed over to some Inca ruins which took about 30mins to reach. We wandered around these ruins for twenty minutes or so which was great as they were built with stunning views of the water. After the ruins we decided to start the long walk across the ridge of the mountains that formed the island. The walk started with a fairly steep incline but after that it levelled out somewhat. There were some undulations which lead to a slight shortness of breath (I blame the altitude) but overall it was a fairly easy and extremely pleasant walk. The views were spectacular as we could see both sides of the island for most of the walk and had views all round of Lake Titicaca. We must have been going at a fairly solid pace as we arrived at the main settlement only three hours after we set off. Once there we found ourselves a simple but charming little guest house which had fantastic views directly over the water. I had a shower and had to use my t-shirt as a towel as we both forgot to bring one to the island with us. After my shower we relaxed on one of the balconies for a while waiting for my shirt to dry so I could put it back on (I also forgot to bring a change of clothes). Fully dressed again we headed to a local convenience store to buy a bottle of wine to share whilst watching the sun go down. The man in the convenience store was really helpful and opened our bottle for us and supplied us with a couple of plastic cups. We took our bottle of wine back to our hostel and sat and watched a glorious sunset. Once the sun had disappeared from view the temperature dropped dramatically, we grabbed our jumpers then decided to find somewhere to eat. On the Isla Del Sol you aren't really spoilt for choice so we made our decision to go in to the restaurant based on the fact other people where inside. Those people where Linda and Maarten (from Huacachina) and two more Dutch guys they had met along the way Erwin and Menno. That hadn't yet ordered so we joined them for dinner and split a fair few bottles of Bolivian wine between us. The next morning, with slightly groggy heads, we headed down to the port to catch our boat back over to Copacabana where we caught another bus to La Paz. The journey to La Paz was slightly bizarre as we drove about an hour from Copacabana to a little town where we were told to get off the bus and catch a boat to the other side of the river. They loaded our coach on to another boat (using the word boat in the loosest of terms) as we all waited nervously on the other side hoping it would make it over with all our belongings. Thankfully it did and we carried on our journey to La Paz, the final part of the journey was breathtaking as we descended down very steep roads in to the city centre. Once at the bus station we caught a cab to first choice of accommodation, unfortunately this didn't have any room so we walked further down and found a hostel in a great spot. I will update you on our time in La Paz soon. Hope you are all well,

John