Copacabana & Isla del Sol

As we travelled from La Paz to Puno, Peru we had our last two stops in Bolivia: Copacabana and Isla Del Sol.  It was nice to take a bus during the day so we could see part of the Bolivian country side this time.

Our first view of Lake Titicaca was the small part of the lake closer to La Paz.  We stopped at a little restaurant for breakfast and it had chairs shaped with the local reeds like they use to make their boats.

There is a narrow straight connecting the smaller southern portion of the lake to the larger northern section.  There was no bridge so we had to take a ferry across.  The bus was too heavy to go on the ferry with all the people on so we got shuttled across on a little motorboat while the bus got brought over on a barge like ferry.

Lake Titicaca is the highest large lake in the world at 3,812 metres (12,507 ft), so it isn’t very warm.  As we drove from the ferry crossing to Copacabana, we had to go over this pass which still had snow on it.  We also stopped at an overlook of Copacabana, which honestly was my favourite part of Copacabana.  It is a small touristy town and the way the bus schedule was setup, we either had to kill 5 hours there, or take a 1 hour boat ride to go visit Isla del Sol (Sun Island).  Isla del Sol is important in Incan mythology as it is believed that the first Incas were created there by the sun god.  We opted to go.

The water was cold and calm when we left for the island.  Not so much on the way back.  They were explicit on needing to be at the boat launch so that the boat could catch the bus and they stated they would leave you there.  However, on our return trip, we were about 20 minutes in when the boat turned around.  The wind was picking up and those that could speak Spanish asked what was going on and it turns out 3 people missed the boat and had called.  Another boat came with the stragglers and met us part way back to Isla del Sol.  The waves were starting to white cap now and it was quite the process to get the 3 stragglers from the one boat into our boat.  Finally everyone was settled and we headed out into choppy water.  Unfortunately, our destination was across the waves and not into the waves, and since we were already 30 minutes behind, I think the captain felt he couldn’t tack much.  You can add boat ride to one of the terrifying experiences of Bolivia transportation.

The island itself was not amazing to us but it was okay.  However, it did serve as a lesson for low-context vs high-context societies.  They dropped us off at one port close to an Inca Temple (which was pretty small and under restoration so not much to look at).  They told us to follow the trail to the look-out and then follow the lower path to the port where they would pick us up.  The upper path would go to the village.  However, there were no signs and various farmer paths crossed what we thought was the hiking path.

Our best guess is that this is the mirador (look-out): a shuttered up restaurant and some farm houses.  The main path went angling up the hill a bit more and the only straight path was smaller and past the farms.  Others from our group had gone the angled way and we tried to ask the way to the port to some local people there trying to sell their wares, they pointed to the angled way.  Turns out we headed up to the village instead and took the longer walk.

It was still a nice walk and we enjoyed the shade and smell of a eucalyptus grove as we got close to the village.  The people ahead of us ended up turning up the hill when then got to the village so they must have been spending the night on the island.  Also looking back, we could now see another group on a lower trail and we realized our error.  We came to larger cobbled road/path that led down to the bay where we could see the boats so we decided to follow it.  Still no signs.

It was quite steep and we saw lots of local carrying supplies on their backs or on donkeys up the path as well as tourists with the backpacks breathing hard trying to get up.  When we finally got to docks we realized that this was the local path and not the “Inca Stairway” our guide had told us our trail would come to. 

We didn’t discover the Inca Stairway until we were about to board our boat as it was 200 meters down the beach from where we had come out.  It did look easier to climb and there is a natural brook that flows all year next to it which they call the Inca Fountain.  This made this path much more green and with flowers along the edge. It definitely looked like the better path down!  It is still a bit of a mystery to us how that lower path could have passed the downward cobbled street we were going down without us noticing, but as the boat was about to leave, we couldn’t go back up and find out.

Uyuni

While in La Paz we took a side trip to see the Bolivian salt flats.  The town of Uyuni sits on the edge of the flats and we took an overnight bus from La Paz to Uyuni.  We then had two days at Uyuni before taking another overnight bus back.  It was a tiring trip in that the overnight buses didn’t provide quite the adequate sleep we were hoping for, but the salt flats are so unique, it was worth the trip.

Train Graveyard

Our first stop was the “train graveyard” which we learned was a result of the Pacific War between Chile, Bolivia and Peru.  We had heard about some of it from the Chile side while in Valparaíso, but now got to hear about it from the Bolivian perspective.  Bolivia originally controlled the land west from the salt flats all the way to the Pacific.  These trains were British made steam engines and took resources to the Pacific ports of Bolivia.  Once the Pacific war started in 1879, with Chile the ultimate winner, Bolivia became landed locked and the trains could no longer reach the Pacific ports that Bolivia once controlled.  The trains have been here ever since, partially stripped for metal.

Our guide told us that there are projects by Bolivia now to restore these lines.  Relations with Chile have improved and there are estimates that somewhere between 25% to 75% of the world’s lithium is under the salt flats.  On the one hand, this sounds like great new for Bolivia which could really use a resource win (since Chile got the copper mines that once were part of Bolivia), but on the other hand, we wonder what will become of the flats.

Salt Production

Our next stop was to a local salt production company.  Almost all, if not all, of the salt production here is done manually and is not exported from Bolivia.  Our guide also explained how they cut out the layers of salt to create blocks to build walls, buildings, carvings, and even the tables where they do the salt production.  The salt itself goes through a few steps of drying/cleaning before being finally bagged.  It is estimated that about 25,000 tons of salt have been extracted from the salt flats but that the salt flats contain between 10-12 billion tons of salt.

The Flats

It is hard to capture on the camera how massive the salt flats are, in part because it deceives the eyes as well.  It is so flat that the concept of distance is distorted.  When your guide points out an island that you are headed to that seems pretty close, you realize 45 minutes later that it really wasn’t as close as you thought.  The plains themselves are 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) and it is about 135km across at its longest point.

Salt Hotel

About half way between Uyuni and Isla Incahuasi (which is at the center of the salt flats) is the one and only salt hotel that is actually on the salt flats.  When tourism first started, people would hike for about a day and reach this spot on their way to the islands at the center.  Eventually people started to cut out blocks and the hotel was formed.   To prevent an explosion of hotels on the flats, the government of Bolivia declared building on the flats themselves would be restricted.  So all the newer salt hotels are built from salt blocks, but on the edge of the flats and not on the flats themselves.  This hotel now is only open to those that arrive on foot or bike and not those by car.  However, its big open common room is available to all and was our lunch point.  Everything but the roof was made of salt blocks!

The salt hotel we stayed in for one night was newer and quite the experience to stay in, complete with extreme howling wind that can be found frequently in the high mountains and desert/salt flat region.

Perspective Photos

So what do you do on a super flat surface with what seems like an infinite skyline? Perspective photos of course!  Just Google Uyuni salt flat photos and you’ll see they are famous for this.  Here are some of our favourite shots.  (The photo above right shows our guide taking the picture on the left (the dinosaur was left over from a previous shot)).

Isla Incahuasi

Of the many islands in the center of the salt flats, the “Inca House” island was the only one that had evidence of settlement.  What made it really unique though was the many large cactus found there and the fact that almost all the rocks were made of petrified coral.

Mountain Pass

Our overnight stay was in a salt hotel at the edge of a “bay” in the salt flats.  On day two, we took a drive up over a mountain pass to get to the next salt bay.  It is such a desolate landscape but still people try to make a living out there with two primary agriculture products: quinoa and llama meat.  Our dinner the night before was quinoa and llama steak. 

Over the centuries/generations, almost every hill side has been terraced with rocks.  It is in these small terrace patches that quinoa is grown.  It looked like a tough life to scrape a living out of those hills.

Galaxy Caves

One reason for the drive over the mountain pass was to visit the Galaxy Caves on the other side.  They were pretty small caves, but super delicate and intricate formations, almost like petrified sponge.

Volcán Tunupa

One of the theories of why the sea that used to be here dried up is volcanic activity.  The largest one is Tunupa and was our next stop.

At the base of the volcano was a few lagoons at the edge of the salt flat that was a common place for flamingos.

Our tour didn’t allow time for a long hike, but we almost made it to the first mirador (lookout).  The view was breath taking, both up towards the volcano and out over the salt flats.

Sunset and Pools

Another thing the salt flats are famous for is that during the rainy season, it floods and creates the largest mirror in the world.  We weren’t there during the raining season, but as the water evaporates there are still usually locations that have some standing water even during the dry season.  It was scheduled in our tour that we could go to one such area to see the sunset, but our guide and about 15 other cars drove around in circles trying to find the water.  The drivers were consulting with each other and eventually it was determined that the strong winds from the night before caused most of the large pools to evaporate.  So we got only a few small pools of water, but it sounded like we may have been one of the last groups of this season to see water. 

Just enough water to attempt the wheel reflection photograph.

While waiting for the sun to set, there was some time to try a few more perspective shots.

Snacks and drinks for the sunset.  However as the sun set and the wind picked up, the temperatures get close to freezing and boy was it cold, so cold that when we got back to the car, the girls sat an each others feet to warm their toes up!

Getting Around…

As a kind of fun aside, I’ve decided to include these photos to explain one of my few frustrations with Bolivia.  On the left is the vehicle that we drove around the salt plains in.  It served us well, but if you notice the top 1/4 to top 1/3 of the windshield is covered with a sunblock/sticker.  Given my height, the picture on the right was my normal comfortable view.  Whether tours, Ubers, or taxis, I’d say 9 out of 10 vehicles had something like this.  I’d often have a crick in my neck from trying to see under!  One of the downsides of being a foot taller than the average height in Bolivia.