Fresh from our Wild Rover New Year's experience, we managed to escape and took an early morning bus to Copacabana (not the Rio beach!) on Lake Titicaca. Of course we had already visited the Peruvian side of the world's largest high-altitude lake in Puno, but it was clear on arrival that Copacabana was a much more picturesque lake-side location. We arrived in time for a lunch of the local specialty, grilled 'trucha criolla' (rainbow trout) from one of the many beachfront stalls. The freshness of the trout was clear as we saw one of the ladies gutting the fish a few meters from our table. Sam enjoyed his trucha so much that he chose the stuffed - bacon and spinach - trout creation later that evening. We even managed to have a trucha pizza the following day!

Copacabana is nestled between two hills and perched on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca . For centuries it was the site of religious pilgrimages, and today people flock to the fiestas of this small, bright and enchanting town. It is one of the main holiday destinations for Bolivians where they can be seen on pedalos and in zorb balls on the sea. Playing table football with an ice-cream in one hand is also a very popular pastime.
 
The sparkling Moorish-style cathedral dominates the town with its domes and colourful ceramic tiles. Outside the cathedral we witnessed 'Bendiciones de Movilidades' (blessing of automobiles) which occurs daily during the festival season. This ritual involves people draping colourful flowers across their cars, letting off firecrackers under them and blessing them with lashings of alcohol and coca leaves. Slightly unnerving - we kept our distance!

We took a steep walk up Cerro Calvario, passing by the 14 stations of the cross as we neared the summit, for brilliant sunset views across Lago Titicaca and Copacabana. We were able to look out to Isla del Sol to where we would catch a boat the following day ...

Isla del Sol, at 3808m, is a large 70-sq-km island with several traditional communities and some pre-Colombian ruins, but it is the tranquil setting and amazing views that really make it worth a visit. The island is also vehicle-free. We were dropped off at the north point of the island, where we visited the Chincana ruins, before beginning our hike along a ridge across the length of the island. As per usual the traditional route was not quite enough for us and we had heard that the beachside village of Cha'lla merited a visit. We therefore ventured off-piste and scrambled down the ridge to find ourselves in a very pleasant farming community alongside the lake.

At the end of an exhausting day, we were accosted by a small local child who coerced us into her family's hotel. She had selected her prey well, as not wishing to walk any further, we agreed. The 360-views from our room were stellar but unfortunately 'la habitacion' came without running water or a flushing toilet! A massive thunderstorm overnight also took out the electricity. In the morning, we waded through the flooded pathways and down the Escalera del Inca, terraced gardens with rolling waterfalls either side of the steps. We boarded the 2-hour boat back to Copacabana with a stowaway dog on-board who seemed very bemused when he disembarked on the mainland!

We completed our Lake Titicaca experience with one final fill of trucha before catching the bus back to La Paz - 4 hours.