Bolivia to Peru

It was finally time to leave Bolivia and cross the border to Peru.

The common route by bus takes you to Lake Titicaca, the “highest navigable lake in the world” (I love superlatives), at 3.800m.
There’s two typical stops at Lake Titicaca – one on the Bolivian side (Copacabana) and one on the Peruvian side (Puno).
Given my time constraint (I had to be in Arequipa to meet up with some friends 3 days later), I only stopped at Copacabana to take a boat to Isla del Sol, an island an 1,5 hours boat trip away, where I spent one night.

Port Yumani on Isla del Sol

Inka Stairs, leading up to the town of Yumani

No town in South America without a Pizzeria so far, no matter how remote

Ye olde Templo del Sol, has seen better days..

When I arrived on the island, I immediately set off in the wrong direction on foot and hiked from the port (elevation: 3.800m) to the summit of the island (elevation: 4.200m) and had to walk everything back again.. Turned out my accomodation was right at the port, next to where the boat landed.

Because my last days in La Paz were filled with farewell parties, my body unfortunately suffered from a lack of sleep and I slept through most of my first day on Isla del Sol. Luckily, I had a late departure the next day and still managed to explore most of the very small island by hiking. Not so easy, hiking up 400 meters at that elevation, especially when your body is still not recovered to its full power – but absolutely worth it.

In the afternoon a quick boat ride took me back to Copacabana and I was on the next bus to Puno, where I just had a short layover and immediately got on the next bus to Arequipa.
Once there, I met most of my friends from my last days in La Paz again, so we continued our streak of farewell parties. This time we had to say goodbye for real, as our routes went off in very different directions from there on.

Arequipa is often dubbed “Peru’s most beautiful city” and we explored it via one of the many free walking tours offered in almost every bigger location. A nice way to get to know a city and its history and also a lot of fun when you do it with a group of friends.