The Inland Sea - Lake Titicaca

Anyone looking to get a natural suntan on their next holiday, probably couldn't do better than Lake Titicaca. At 3,800 metres above sea level, sunny most days, and located between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, you are going to struggle to find a beach anywhere in the world that can offer you this kind of tanning potential.


But it isn't just a place for those who feel the need to increase their risk of skin cancer. The lake, shores and islands are stunning. I spent a couple of days in Copacabana (okay, raise your hand anyone who started singing "Her name was Lola, She was a showgirl..." in their head) and caught one of the many tourist cruise boats out to Isla del Sol, literally Island of the Sun located on the lake.


Isla del Sol is an important Inca location, as this was the place in Inca mythology that the sun was created. Apparently the bearded white god Viracocha and the first Incas Manco Kapac and his sister-wife Mama Huaca (apparently they were a very close family) first came to earth. Isla del Sol has a number of important Inca ruins, and about 5,000 people still living on the island. One of the sites is a convent housing the virgins of the sun, but I missed that.

And rising steeply from the water line to around 4,000 metres, it isn't just the view that takes your breath away on the way to the top.


Copacabana is small and a little touristy (traditional markets and travel agents seem to dominate the main street), although has a kick-ass Moorish-influenced catherdral in the middle of town. The cathedral was so large I struggled to fit it into a photo.


I took a walk up to the cemetary above Copacabana which is about 150 metres above the town, and it felt like I was climbing straight up. You can see the cathedral on the far right of the picture, including it's relative size to the surrounding streets.


Lake Titicaca isn't the world's highest navigable lake as both Chile and Peru can boast of bodies of water at higher altitudes. However it is South America's largest lake and I bet those lakes in Chile and Peru don't transfer your tour bus on a pontoon. Look closely (or click the image) and you'll see a guy with a motorbike having his photo taken on the pontoon.



And I really can't say what this is (a new Viking invasion, Mari and Randi?) but it was plowing its way across the lake. They were just raising sails when I took this photo.