Bolivia Complete Travel Guide
Lake Titicaca is on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The Lake can be visited from either Puno in Peru to the floating islands, but I decided to explore Lake Titicaca on the Bolivian side at Copacabana.
How to get to Copacabana
From the main bus terminal in La Paz, various tourist buses depart around 8:00 every morning, arriving around noon in Copacabana. I bought a ticket from the company Titicaca for 35 bolivianos. Along the route we had to get off the bus to cross the lake. The bus went onto a big raft, and the passengers got across on small boats for 2 bolivianos.
Floating rafts that transport the vehicles
To do in Copacabana
Arriving at noon, I made good use the afternoon to explore Copacabana. First to the cathedral in the city centre, and a bit of a climb to La Horca del Inca, an archeological site that used to operate as an astronomical observatory. The views were definitely worth going up.
Horca del Inca
View of Copacabana from La Horca del Inca
Ferry to Isla del Sol
After staying the night in Copacabana, I went to the pier at 8 AM sharp to buy a boat ticket to Challapampa, the Northern town of Isla del Sol. The ferry departed at 9:20, arriving at the island 2 hours later.
Arriving at Northern town of the island
North to South trail
Some previous information suggests that the Northern part of Isla del Sol is prohibited for visitors. This information is dated from 2017 and got resolved after the pandemic, the Northern and Southern village patched things up and the island is fully accessible again.
From Challapampa it’s first a 45 min walk to the ruins of Chincana Labyrinth. From there the trail starts through the middle of the island towards the Southern town Yumani. Definitely download the offline maps.me app, which displays the trail perfectly. Even without any 4G connection, the offline map and GPS will get you in the right direction. But even without, the trail is very easy to follow!
It is suggested that the duration of the hike takes around 3.5 – 4 hours. I like to take my time and make plenty of photo stops, in the end it took me 5 hours to arrive at the pier at Yumani.
Beautiful views from the trail
View of the beach
Inca ruins of Chincana Labyrinth
Walking in peace along the trail
Trail from North to South of the island
More views
Check points
On the island there are check points where you’ll be asked for a fee to pass. The first was at the start, for 10 bolivianos I received a ticket to pass. At the end was an old man asking for money, but he didn’t have a ticket to give. I told him he has no ticket and passed him without paying. Other travellers did give him money. I don’t like to be scammed.
Where to stay?
I left my plans open and had no accommodation booked for the night, as I wasn’t sure if I going to make the last boat back to Copacabana at 16:00, or maybe stay on the island. In the end I arrived at Yumani around 15:30, just in time. And lucky too, it was a whole lot of steps walking down at the very end, I definitely did not want to walk back up again to the town if I missed the boat.
When the boat arrived at Copacabana at 18:00, I decided on the spot I was taking the collectivo back to La Paz, arriving in La Paz around 22:00 at the Cementerio Terminal. Having the whole next day to just relax.
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