Free Wisdom Online: Isla del Sol

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After 4 hours on the bus and an 1.5 hours on a boat we finally got to
Isla del Sol, which some people think is the most beautiful place in
Bolivia.  Isla del Sol also features prominently in Inca legends,
according to which the Sun itself was born here and later gave birth
to the first Inca, who travelled from here until stopping in Cusco.

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_036_6504 The Inca Staircase
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_038_8764
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_043_3969
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_057_5927 The face at Pilka Kaina
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_058_6125 Pilka Kaina ruins
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_049_1761 Donkeys
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_050_2700 Terraces of Isla del Sol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_073_0903 Sunset sheep
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_084_4050 Sunset over Peru
2005-12-13-c-isla-del-sol/20051213_087_1300_mod_C Night on Isla del Sol
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

After arriving to the southern end of Isla del Sol the visitor is
greeted with "the Inca Staircase", which climbs about 50 meters up,
from where you continue on a windy trail to a village of Yumani.
Altogether, you get to climb 200 meters before reaching the main part
of the village.  At this altitude, even without heavy backpacks such a
hike would be quite a challenge, so we were exhausted before reaching
the top of the hill.  As a result, we ended up giving up on the hotel
that was recommended to us by backpackers we met in Sucre, and
settling for one about 30 meters lower, where for US$5 we got a room
with a gorgeous view and an unfullfilled promise of hot water in a
shared bathroom.

After leaving our backpacks, we went to explore the island, looking
for "Pilka Kaina" ruins.  Finding it was a little tricky, and when we
asked local kids which way it was, they refused to say unless we hired
one of them to take us there.  We ended up agreeing to get a guide for
Bs.10.  (We originally bargained it down to Bs.5, but it turned out to
be a longer walk than we expected, so I gave him Bs.10, which is what
he asked for originally.)

Next morning we watched sunrise from our room, then got breakfast at
one of the hotels nearby (our served breakfast too, but we were pissed
at them for lying to us about hot water).  After that we took a boat
to the north side of the islands, explored a larger ruin site there,
and then walked across the island along picturesque but really long
"Inca Road" (about 3 hours).

<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_004_9465 Sunrise over Isla del Sol
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_006_7216
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_007_3774 Donkey at sunrise
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_011_0922 Reed boat
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_017_3536 Terraces
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_018_6865 A pig
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_019_3460 "Pedra Sagrada" in the middle of someones orchard
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_023_5994 Chincana ruins
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_026_2307 Chincana ruins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_022_6807 The Inca Road
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_046_0426 One of the places marked as just "ruins"
2005-12-14-isla-del-sol-2/20051214_051_7107 Llama back at Yumani
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

After returning to Yumani in the south we barely made it to the last
boat to Copacabana.

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