Copacabana and Isla del Sol

Now this is what I was expecting when going to Puno: a little town, by the water with not as many people. I found my expectations in Copacabana on the Bolivian side of the lake. We found our hostel, which had a kitchen, dumped our bags and went to watch the sun go down by the port, it was really nice. Then we walked around and saw the cathedral: I mention this because it was really different looking, with an almost arab look or a palace type of cathedral, definitely something I have not seen inSouth Americayet! We found the market and bought lots of vegetables and fruits to make some dinner. (We were all on veggies withdrawl!) Oh when I keep saying “we” I now mean Megan and Amy the kiwis!

This morning, we found some internet, ate breakfast, walked around some of the shops and hopped on a boat to the island of the sun for an overnight stay. The ride was a little cold, but nice, and lasted about an hour and a half. When we arrived, there were kids trying to bring us to hostels and stuff. Some followed us, offered to bring our bags (we have all our stuff with us!) and one ended up following us until we found a place we wanted to stay. We walked up for about 15minutes to the beginning of the village called Yumani, on the south end of the island. The place we chose was one with a big terrace with a beautiful view on the lake and with a kitchen available if we want to use it. After walking through the village, we all agreed that this was the place with the largest and best view on the lake. The village is rather small, with many hostals, little restaurants and shops. There were a few women selling their knitted gloves, hats and sweaters and we saw many donkeys, pigs and lamas as well. We sat on the porch and made some sandwiches and chatted as the weather got colder and colder. We just kept adding clothes until we all went into one room to warm up a little.