Wow it`s cheap in Bolivia, wish we could stay here longer. Having arrived on Tuesday evening in Bolivia we decided not to press on to La Paz but instead decided to stay in Copacabana and take a day trip on Wednesday to Isla del Sol.

Isla del Sol sits about an hour`s boat ride from Copa in Lake Titicaca and there are further Inca ruins on the island. It was on the island that the Inca`s believed the first Inca Ruler emerged from 'the scared rock` and so began the Inca dynasty, although having decided not to hire a spanish speaking guide we were left debating exactly which rock was sacred. The landscape of the island is pretty barren and given the altitude and the blazing sun it's a pretty unforgiving place to stroll around. We visited the sites on the north island and then set off on the 3 hour trek back to the south, the views of the lake are impressive, especially the mountains which sit towering over the lake which appear ghost like in the distance due to the shimmering heat. The walk was fairly pleasant except for the multiple tolls along the path. We had paid the 10 Bolivarans to look round the northern sites but as we walked south we passed 3 different signs where we were asked to pay to enter the southern part and walk along the path. We are pretty sceptical that these tolls are authorised and having already been asked to pay twice to enter the south we had our first row in Spanish by asking what exactly it was that we were paying for. Our Spanish must be coming along because we actually got an apology and a discount! This slight annoyance aside it was a pleasant day, probably the most memorable aspect will be the vastness of Lake Titicaca it is absolutely huge and it felt like we were on a mediterranean island rather than an isla in a lake almost 4,000m above sea level.

We then had a little scare on the way back as Alison was chatting to a Swiss girl about our travels and I was immersed in a conversation with a Scottish bloke about football when we heard a splash. We saw our bag bobbing up and down in the lake behind us, both of us assumed the other one was holding it as it slipped down between us. Thankfully the ships driver wheeled us around and we were able to pluck it from the lake and there was nothing that was irrepairably damaged after a little stint in the sun.

Arriving back in Copacabana we caught the bus to La Paz which involved an interesting river crossing where we were shipped over on a little boat while our bus lurched across on a barge type thing.