After a few relaxing days in La Paz we said adios to the good friends we'd been traveling with for the last few weeks and headed to Lake Titicaca on the border of Bolivia and Peru.
This gorgeous turquoise lake is the highest navigable lake in the world (have you noticed how into superlatives Bolivia is? -highest city, highest capital, highest lake, most birds and frogs in their park, friendliest, most likely to succeed, etc). Anyhow, Lake Titicaca was the home to a number of ancient civilizations that date back long before the Incans came to town. The history of this place is incredible, and as legend has it, it's also the birthplace of mankind. And it's pretty.
We spent three days on the island, camping and exploring and enjoying the wonderful people who call Isla del Sol (the island of the sun) their home. Quechua is the language the Incans spoke, and many still speak throughout Bolivia; Aymara is a pre-Incan language that is still spoken in pockets in the highlands, including Isla del Sol. The Incans and their predescesors terraced every slope on the island hundreds of years ago, and the people living there still work the fields and live in a way that seems unchanged by the centuries.
We encountered incredibly hardworking, hospitable people throughout the island. Wonderful, friendly folks.
This nice guy rowed us out to the island for a few dollars. You can see the terraces in the background -a true technological feat for its time. And a lot of work.
On the island we came across a number of Incan ruins. These beautiful stone buildings used no mortar to hold them together, and many of them are still in great shape. Tupac, one of the most powerful Incan kings, constructed this temple to the sun.
Man, it was just really hard to find a perfectly flat campsite next to the water with spectacular views and no one else in sight. Oh wait, there's one.
Oh, and there's another.
Small fishing towns dot the island, which is only about six miles long. The buildings are made of adobe (mud and straw) with tile, metal, or straw roofs.
And the kids are so beautiful.
Even the rocks are cute.
What a great place. After a few great days on the island we headed back to La Paz and said our final farewell to Bolivia. Man, I miss her.
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