ATTRACTIONS

At 3,800 m.a.s.l., it is the highest navigable lake in the world. Of impressive beauty, the Titicaca has a great significance for the history of South America because the Tiahuanaco Culture, one of the oldest of the region, flourished here. It was only centuries later that, according to oral history, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo came out from its waters to found the Empire of the Incas, as ordered given by their father, the Sun.

The Titicaca is shared between Bolivia and Peru It has an extension of 8,300 square kilometers and a total of 36 islands, disseminated in both countries. Its temperature average is of 9 degrees centigrade. It provides the neighbouring inhabitants with totora, wild ducks, trouts and many types of natives fishes.

To navigate and to walk, are the perfect combination that will allow you to know the Titicaca Lake and its wonderful islands. Adventures in gelid blue waters and sheer paths, where the rigors of the height are felt, the dry wind that filters through the cracks of the clothes, the timid sun that can shine brightly without warming you.

Besides the attractions of the lake, in this area of the country -located in the department of La Paz- one can also visit the town of Copacabana, noted for the Sanctuary of La Vírgen Morena, the image of the patron saint of the Bolivian highland.

In your visit to the Titicaca, you must also visit the following places:

Isla del Sol: it is in the middle of the lake Titicaca and during the pre-Hispanic time was an important religious establishment. It has an extension of 9,6 kilometers long and 4,6 kilometers wide. Some places of interest in the island are:

• Pilkokaina, an Inca stone construction south of the island, characterized by trapezoidal windows and doors.
  
  
• Chincana, passages and underground tunnels of an Inca palace, seems to be forming a labyrinth in the north part of the island.
  
  
• Pisadas del Sol, the legend says that, the Sun came to the earth after a big flood and, when he rose toward the skies left his prints marked. In fact, the foot prints of the heavenly body are nothing but geologic formations.
  
  
• Roca Sagrada, a legend says that Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo took refuge in this rock, in which two human figures can be observed.
  
  
• Escalinatas of Yumani, dozens of steps -of the time of the children of the sun- lead to the Fuente de los Incas, in which cults to the water were carried out. Old stories assure that the place was the fountain of youth.

Kalahuata: its name comes from the aymara words: kala (stone) and huata (house). In the island there are remains of a great cemetery that dates from the post-Tiahuanaco period or from the Colla Empire time. The residents cultivate quinua, beans, corn and potato, that are characteristic of this Andean region.

Suriqui: This island is noted for to its totora weavers, able to build resistant rafts.

Estrecho de Tiquina: Located at 117 kilometres from La Paz, it is one of the most beautiful places in the lake and. In the banks of the strait, the towns of San Pablo and San Pedro de Tiquina are located. To move from one bank to the other it is necessary to board a craft and, if you are taking a motor vehicle, these have to be taken by a ferryboat that crosses the waters of the Titicaca.

Copacabana: At only 158 kilometers from La Paz and at 3,841 m.a.s.l.; the main attraction of this town is the Sanctuary of La Vírgen Morena, where people surrender cult to the Virgin of Copacabana. The image was carved in wood in 1592, by Francisco Tito Yupanqui, who was a descendant of the Incas.

• Basilica of Copacabana, known for its ornamented, beautifully carved images and the four chapels of the atrium. Francisco de Siguenza built it between 1610 and 1619,.
  
  
• El Calvario, as penance, thousands of pilgrims and devotees of the Virgin of Copacabana walk through this stone road that leads to a mountaiin, from which one has a beautiful view of the lake.
  
  
• Astronomical Observatory, the ancient cultures of the highland (previous to the Incas), placed in this place a group of lithic pieces for the observation of the winter solstice. From here, one has a spectacular view of the lake.
  
  
• Intikala or the tribunal of the Inca, a series of gigantic stones worked by pre-Columbian artists -who made in the rocks seats and pedestals for their gods - are located at less than one kilometer from Copacabana.