"Isla del Sol" Isla del Sol by trystanmd

We arrived on Isla del Sol by boat from Copacabana (took about 2 hours) and it's definately worth a visit. The island's terrain is quite deserty and dry, and the hills seem to go up in rings making them look unlike any other hills I've seen. Trekking at this altitude can take it's toll on you depending on how fit you are but only the fattest of people wouldn't enjoy a the walk from end to end - not too hard with one or two places on the way to buy snacks (coca-cola gets everywhere). The only negative point about the island is that like Copacabana, there are a lot of tourists, and the whole island is very tourist orientated but on the whole it's a great place to visit and I enjoyed staying here very much. Take sunscreen or you'll burn like a crisp!! The cold air makes you forget that the sun is cooking your sking as you walk, and the thin air at this altitude means you burn even easier.

Aymaran men and women to roll a boulder

When we visited the island, we went to see the ancient labrynth, a water fountain that allegedly gives eternal youth, something that could be passed as a picnic table which was in fact a sacrificing table with 12 stones around it, and a "footprint" where it is said the sun came down to the island. If you want to understant these ancient ruins, which are easy to walk past without noticing, grab a guide in La Paz to go with you- it helps a lot. While trekking from one end to the other, we saw some locals building a wall, which differs somewhat from the British construction method, this was an interesting experience -seeing Aymaran women hurling HUGE boulders down hills. There are also many people (mainly children) trying to sell clothes along the island. Sadly, tourism seems to be a huge part of the islanders' life and their culture and dress can therefore feel a little 'staged' at times, this is not always the case though, if you wander off the beaten track as I did.

The breathtaking sunset we saw on Isla del Sol.

The technology isn't as advanced on this island, I don't think you can access the internet, and in our hostal the toilet didn't have a flush so we had to pour water from a bucket into it. Plenty of places to eat, in fact there seem to be so many that each visitor could have a restaurant each. The restaurant we went to had 2 tables, and it seemed we were her only customers that night - 'places to eat' would probably be a better way of describing these restaurants as they are very basic but make good food and the woman was very friendly. While staying on Isla del Sol we saw an incredible sunset - see photo.

• Pros:amazing scenery and views, friendly people
• Cons:quite tourist orientated