Copacabana & Southern Sun Island

You'll be picked up at your La Paz hotel or hostel between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning and then head by bus to Copacabana, about 3½ hours away. En route we'll be able to admire impressively attractive views of a part of the Andean Range known as the Cordillera Real, or Royal Range.

We'll arrive at Copacabana at about 12:00pm, stopping first at the hotel so that you have a chance to accommodate your things and then going for a lunch of food typical for the area. We'll board the shared boat at around 1:30pm, and you'll have an hour and a half to enjoy the sights and sounds of the world's highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca, as we cross its waters en route to Sun Island.

From our point of disembarkment it's a short 20 minute trek to the mysterious Inca ruins of the Pilcocaina Archeological Complex, where ceremonies were realized in adoration of the supreme deity, Inti, the Sun God. Our guide will introduce us to the history and significance of this site, afterwhich we'll descend an original Inca path, the stone steps of Yumani Stairway, which lead to the Fountain of Youth.

The temperatures begin to drop in the evening, so you'll want to have brought not only your sun gear for the afternoon, but also some warm layers for the evening. At 4:30pm it's time to embark on the return boat trip to Copacabana. After arriving we'll enjoy our dinner, at around 6:00pm. Afterwards you'll have the evening free.

After breakfast we'll have a walking tour of the city of Copacabana which will last about two hours. First we'll visit the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Candelaria.

We'll also head to Calvary, a site where traditional pre-Columbian rituals were performed by Bolivian Yatiris seeking protection, health, love and money.

Before grabbing the 1:30pm bus that will take us back to La Paz, we'll stop for one last lunch in Copacabana.