In Copacabana, we boarded a small boat to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) and sat on the top deck. The ride was windy and cold but I enjoyed the scenery. Lake Titicaca is a strong shade of dark blue and the contrast against the clear Bolivian sky was an incredible sight. On the way, we passed by the Isla de la Luna (Island of the Moon), where the Incas believed the rising of the moon was commanded. The ride took about 90 minutes.
An hour after the bribing incident, we pulled up to Copacabana, a tiny town on the shores of Lake Titicaca that happens to be the namesake for the famous beach in Rio de Janeiro.
I made a huge mistake during my visit to Lake Titicaca. From La Paz, I bought an organized day trip including transportation to and from Copacabana, lunch, and a tour of Isla del Sol. That wasn’t the mistake. The mistake was not spending a night there.
One of the fascinating things about La Paz are its seemingly never-ending maze of street markets in the city center. Tents, stalls, or sometimes just blankets on the ground line the streets selling just about everything you can imagine. Do you need vegetables for a big dinner party? Head to the streets. Are you looking for a pair of socks, a light bulb, shampoo, and perhaps a toilet seat? You’re in luck!
The least popular tour and the least visited sites in the Sacred Valley (Valle Sagrado) are on the Southern Circuit (Circuito Sur). It’s unfortunate because these ruins are equally as spectacular as the others in the valley.
The heart of the Sacred Valley (Valle Sagrado) features a few very interesting archaeological sites on the road to Machu Picchu.
The Maras Moray Circuit (Circuito Maras Moray) of the Sacred Valley (Valle Sagrado) visits an incredible Inca agricultural laboratory, an ancient salt mine, and a traditional craft market.
The Sacred Valley of the Incas (Valle Sagrado), is home to one of the the most famous archaeological sites in the world, Machu Picchu. To visit only Machu Picchu wouldn’t be enough! Valle Sagrado is full of Inca archaeological sites to keep one busy for a whole week or more. In this entry, I will give a brief overview of the day trips I took from Cusco to some of these sites.
On the hills just above the city of Cusco are the Inca ruins of Saqsayhuamán (pronounced by some tourists as “sexy woman”).