Lake Titicaca (Isla del Sol)

Lake Titicaca is 3800 meters up at the border between Bolivia and Peru and is massive - one of those lakes that you normally can't see through to the other side even on a clear day. In the middle of it is the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) 4000 people live natively and a good bit of tourists head over there on boats for a couple of nights fro Copacabana, a town on the Bolivian side. It's called the Isla del Sol because the Incas considered it the birthplace of their sun god and they built upon the preexisting villages when they found the island more than 500 years ago. We camped over there - it gets really cold at night at 4000 meters, the highest point of the island - and walked along it for 3 days and 2 nights. The second night we camped along a beach near a small village on the island and the locals were constantly leading donkeys and pigs along from one point to another along the beach.

El Choro

El Choro is a trek near La Paz. We started at 5000 meters, where you really feel the altitude, and walked down to 1100m over 3 days. We spent two nights out there, above the cloud level most of the time and walked down a rocky old Inca road that has been used for more than 500 years for trade. It was pretty tough on the knees - it's definitely easier to go downhill than uphill, but tougher on the bones if not the lungs. The second night, our campsite was on the edge of a cliff above the cloud line and we just watched the rain come in below (and above) us as we sat and enjoyed our dinner. We began the trek in a desolate climate and finished in what was almost a tropical climate.

La Paz

La Paz is stunning in a very peculiar kind of way - the city is in the middle of a very steep valley, creating some wonderful views of the city. The city is 3800m high, making breathing difficult after just even a bit of walking. I got acclimated a bit but that only took me so far - it's just impossible to breathe deeply and exercise the way I'm used to at that altitude.