The border crossing from Peru to Bolivia was no big deal at all. We found a bus from Cusco to Puno, Peru (six hours), had to wait in a bus terminal for a little over an hour and eat possibly the most delicious banana pancake breakfast in all of South America*, then get on our second bus on the same ticket to Copacabana, Bolivia (3 hours). About 20 minutes shy of Copa we arrived at the border where we had to check into two different offices, show our visas, get our passports stamped, and then walk into Bolivia on foot. There were pigs and goats hanging around on the side of the road and an already impressive view of Lake Titicaca which is just massive. We changed some money at one of the road-side stands (not a great idea, but the rate wasn’t as abusive as in Cusco) and were back on the bus.

Copacabana is a calm little hamlet that curves along a bit of Lake Titicaca’s coast. The vibe is so chill, that many a wayward hippy seem to have landed here and never left (in case you need any friendship bracelets or advice on where to buy drugs in various Bolivian towns–SUPER not recommended). Boats clog the dock for daily trips to Isla del Sol and waterfront cafes fry and serve lake trout by the school.

We splurged a bit on our lodging to stay in Las Olas, a collection of funky-shaped cabins with indoor hammocks and gardens and seriously worth-it views of the lake from up above. We were still recharging from our Machu Picchu adventure, so we spent a lot of time staring out the picture windows, trying to get the wifi to work, and eating at La Cupola, the restaurant at the hotel next door. We even got a bottle of Bolivian “altitude-grown wine” which… really made us excited for Chile.

The main tourist attraction when staying in Copacabana is the nearby Isla del Sol. It is the birthplace of the Inca Sun God, and the location of the culture’s creation myth. It’s also one of the harshest, most beautiful environments we had ever seen. Rocky hills look at once like the surface of the moon, and mars, with swirling lumps of reddish, grey and blueish stone. Patches of Eucalyptus forrest are so dense, it smells like a spa locker room. And the sun. The sun is so relentless, that on the roughly three-hour hike from one end of the island to the other, you’ll be sure you’ve been wandering a desert for years and potentially at risk for massive dehydration and sun poisoning if not worse, which all feels silly when any of the islands 800-or-so inhabitants strolls passed dressed in the many-layered Aymara style, like carrying 30 pounds of potatoes and a toddler is no big deal.

The hike from end-to-end was hard and fun. The scenery is non-stop stunning and the crowd of pizza restaurants by the South shore are… good enough by the time you get there. Before boarding our slow boat back to Copa, we learned that the helicopter we had seen coming to and from the island was carrying Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, which is a pretty big deal even though we weren’t on the right side of the island to see him.

Back in Copacabana we had a couple of nice meals before setting off for a tropical retreat in Sorata, which included such hits as this fun with English translations (Broccoli to it! being our new catchphrase):

And this absolute bad-ass who thought lighting his hand on fire was probably the most reasonable way to tackle the ‘our table-side fire is out’ situation.

Here’s where we were:
(Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia)

*Worst coffee, though.