La Paz, Day 3: Isla del Sol and a night out on the town

After an early wake-up call in Copacabana, my friends and I boarded a ferry to la Isla del Sol, about two hours away from Copacabana by very slow-going ferry. I ended up spending most of the ride making friends with fellow travelers from Brazil, Spain, and Argentina. It was great fun to all try to communicate with our varying degrees of mastery of Spanish.

Isla del Sol is an island in the southern part of Lake Titicaca where the son is believed to have been born. There are over 180 ruins on the island, mostly from the Incan period (about 15th C), but some dating back to 2200 BCE.

The ferry dropped us off on the southern part of the island where most of the ruins are located. My friends re-boarded the ferry to take them to the northern part of the island, while I hiked across. The hike was really spectacular. I joined up with a group of Med students from Dartmouth and we enjoyed the beautiful views from the peaks of the island.

After meeting back up with my friends on the northern part of the island, we decided to separate for the rest of the trip. Two stayed on the island for the night, while Mike and I decided to head back to La Paz to stay the night at his friend´s house. Kelly decided to show us what a typical night out on the town is like for young people in La Paz. She invited friends over for dinner, and then we all went out to a party in the city and to a club. I´m not accustomed to ¨night life¨, so when I realized we were still dancing at 4am, I had to call it quits and leave the rest to the Bolivians!

New friends from around the world!