The bus took four hours from La Paz to Copacabana where we would transfer to a ferry for another 1-1/2 hours boat ride to arrive at Isla del Sol (the Sun Island). The traffic again was a nightmare as the city was preparing one of the many festivals and cars were stuck in the middle in Cobacabana. Btw, this is the original Cobacabana. The one in Brazil borrowed the name from here.
By the time we arrived on the island, it was closed to 3:00 pm. We had to walk up many stone stairs and steep trails that was very challenging with the high altitude, 4010 m. We had to climb very slowly and take multiple breaks. The hostel we booked was quite nice, newly renovated but didn't come with heater so it would be another cold night.
After a quick break, we decided to do a quick walk up the main peak near the hotel. By chance, we missed the main turnoff to the top and had to scramble up the side of the hill walking on small trails that were mainly used by mules and lambs. It was another challenge on our body and stamina. I don't think Richard ever gives up on his goal. Larry and Agnes quickly turned back after a few steps into the trail while I decided to soldier on with him. We were climbing uphill constantly, with mule dropping everywhere and no visible route to walk on. We did make it to the top and the view was most amazing. We had an incredible view of Lake Titicaca on both sides of the island. We took some pics and had to quickly come back down to meet with Larry and Agnes.
A highly recommended restaurant happens to be quite close to our hotel so we decided to have our dinner there (if it is located at the bottom of the hill, I don't think we would have the energy to hike down and up again!) We had seen this in many places in Bolivia, either a couple or a single person operates the restaurant. This restaurant was operated by a gourmet chef and there was no menu provided. He was one man show, taking orders, serving drinks, and cook the meals. (We later learned that his wife was away in La Paz). He told the customers to be patient as it would take a while for the meals to come. There was no electricity in the restaurant (only candles) and the chef had to wear a headlamp in order to prepare food and see what he was cooking! For the longest time, there was nothing happening in the kitchen. We were guessing that the chef left to pick up the ingredients for the dishes! We (in fact the whole restaurant) waited for 2.5h before any food showed up. He came out to announce that the first course served would be trout, followed by pizza, and filet magnon would be last. We were happy that we at least ordered the pizza to share. When our dinner showed up, it was indeed very good, both the pizza and filet magnon. This is probably the weirdest dining experience we've ever had!
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