The birthplace of the sun

Having seen the Peruan side of the Incas, I had to see the most crucial point for the Incas: the birthplace of the sun and the moon, the “Isla de Sol”. The people living there are called Aymara. Aymara and the Inca are two distinct indigenous peoples of the Andes Mountains. The Inca were a powerful empire that conquered and incorporated many other groups, including the Aymara, into their territory. The Aymara, however, have their unique language, culture, and traditions, and they have never been fully assimilated into Inca society.
Nevertheless, not only the Aymara but also the Inca believed that the sun and the moon were born on the “Isla de Sol” in Lake Titicaca. The Inca believed the island was sacred and built many temples and shrines there. The most important of these temples was the Temple of the Sun, dedicated to Inti, the sun god.

Visiting the island had a very positive side effect: I could visit Lake Titicaca, a large, high-altitude freshwater lake located in the Andes Mountains on the border between Bolivia and Peru. It is the highest navigable lake in the world, with a surface elevation of 3,810 meters (12,500 feet) above sea level. By the way, Pippi Longstocking’s father is living here; at least, that is what she says every time she gets asked about her father. You don’t know who is Pippi? Check it out here!

But finally, the question is, how do you get to the lake and on this island?
It’s a long way from La Paz. You could also come from the Peruan side; it would be pretty much the same.
From La Paz, a bus takes 3 hours before you cross the lake for the first time. This happens in two steps: a very unpromising flatbed boat for the bus, an average, very stinky old, and an unpromising little vessel for the passengers.
I was happy that I was allowed to leave the bus. Look at the boats for the bus:

After getting onto the bus, it takes 1.5 more hours through stunning nature (already with some views on the lake) before reaching Cobacabana.

Yes, right, like the beach in Rio. Unfortunately, it’s not that beautiful from my point of view.

From there, a “speedboat” takes you to the island “Isla de Sol”, the sun’s birthplace. (Speedboat in quotation marks as they called it speedboat; I had the feeling that rowing by myself would be even faster 🙂 )After roughly an hour on that island, everything goes vice versa, and you will be back in La Paz just a couple of hours later. I met people who stayed either in Copacabana or on the Isla de Sol for one or two nights. Staying in Copacabana does not make any sense. Staying on the island might be nice as it’s disconnected from the world. You could go for a swim or hike around the whole island. It seems easy as the island does not have huge mountains, but you must realize you are already on 4000m!