To the island of the sun...

Isla del Sol, aptly called such because Inkas believe it was the birthplace of the sun (or something), is a must-see destination for tourists in Bolivia. Nestled between the frontiers of Bolivia and Peru, and close to Copacabana in Bolivia, the island is famed for its sunrises, sunsets and vast blanket of stars in the night. Sounded pretty enticing for me. So I went.

With a group of 8, including nationalities from around the world, we set off on the boat from Copacabana to Isla del Sol after a somewhat disappointing hostel breakfast during which M almost had a fist fight with the asshole waiter who refused us a cup of hot water at 9:55am. "NO MAS DESAYUNO!!" He needs to get laid.

The boat took us to the south side, the side we were told was more commercial and not as chilled out. What we weren´t told about was the HILL. Dear god, that thing was a monster. Thankfully, Dutch boy K volunteered to carry my enormous backpack up for me, then crazily came back down for M´s as well! Wow. What a trooper.

Everything we needed was up that hill, but when we got there, things were a little easier. We settled on a hostel with an INCREDIBLE view of the sunrise and it was quite cheap (won´t find that in Santorini!). Once we dumped the backpacks, we took a stroll to some pre-Inca ruins which were not really that impressive - impressive was the view getting there and back. The first of many stunning views to come on this island.

The sun was fading fast, so we tried to get up to a high vantage point to see it set, but were off target a little and instead saw the colours ink the sky behind another island close by. Still, pretty amazing. We chose one of the many pizzerias, a small and humble shack run by an adorable eldery couple that pretty much was full once we arrived. They could only cook one pizza at a time anyway so I think it would have been impossible to have any more customers. French boy F ran into us as well, the first of many times on the island.

The pizza came in jumbo size, biggest things I have ever seen, and was almost all devoured in no time. The rest of the pieces were stored for the sunrise the next morning. The island had turned cold very quickly - once that sun goes down, it is you against nature out there. So we hurried back to the hostel and chilled there for a bit before going to sleep. It had been a big day. But tomorrow would be even bigger.