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Tara, Linda and Bob on the Altaplano
the burned spots near our feet are where offerings are burned 8 May 2014 Thursday. Our guide, Juan, picked us up at our La Paz hotel at 8 am and then drove to the Main Square where
taracloud, a fellow Travelblogger who I have followed for several years, was waiting for us. She asked that we wait a minute while she checked a nearby coffee shop for her camera. Unfortunately, it wasn't where she had left it, and subsequent searches were fruitless. So some of the pictures is this blog were taken by Tara. As her pictures are the highlights of her blogs, we hope that she is able to get another camera soon.
After this hiccup we were off for Tiwanaku, a pre-Inca civilization that flourished from 300 to 1000 AD. The Inca's learned much from this civilization; especially how to use fasteners to keep rocks together, although the Tiwanacans never got the level of precision that the Inca's did. We followed the Pan American Highway. The tour guide didn't have to say much as conversation was dominated by the three of us getting to know each other better. Tara, originally from Santa Barbara CA, has been living all over South American for several years and has blogged extensively about
her experiences. She was a great resource in planning for our trip. stopping on a high hill along the way. Our guide pointed out the burned spots and explained that this is where the shaman would burn their offering just as I described in my previous blog about the Sun Island.
We continued on to Tiwanaku and first visited the museum with artifacts uncovered during the excavation of the site. The electricity went out so we took this opportunity to visit the excavations. We visited the Ponce stelle located in the sunken courtyard of the Kalasasya temple, and studied the inscriptions, including a Spanish effort to inscribe symbols stating that the statue was evil. We also studied the Sun and Moon Gates and the calendar elements such as the days of a week and weeks in a month, etc. Again, astronomical alignments were in evidence in the placement of all structures. Our guide pointed out the various carved faces, including on that looked like a space alien. He seemed to put some credence in the writings of Eric Von Daneken who wrote about the extraterrestrial origins on many archaeological sites in South America.
After walking the site we
had lunch, all three of us having a vegetable omelet which was good. Tara enjoyed the salad bar, deciding that the one we had access to was as good as, if not better, than the one reserved exclusively for a German tour group. We never did understand why they would have separate salad bars. Before heading back to La Paz we visited a nearby site with megalithic stones which were positioned to be used to construct a massive temple.
The trip back to La Paz was again dominated by us three, with Juan just enjoying listening to our conversation. He was impressed that Tara had chosen to live for months on end in Bolivia...perhaps less so that we would only spend two days there...but he was at least appreciative we had come as tourism from the U.S. had fallen off dramatically since 2009 when a left leaning government had been elected.
Back in La Paz we stopped briefly at a lookout from which we could see the city sprawled out in the valleys far below. We then drove to the the infamous Witches Market, but declined to have our fortunes told. We bought some knit ware for gifts.
Ponce stelle
with engravings including a Spanish one that condemns the statue We then drove to the Moon Valley which to us was just eroded mud...nothing as impressive as the Garden of the Gods we have back home. But I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We then dropped Tara back at the cathedral. On our way to our hotel we discovered she had left her good umbrella in the van, so arranged for her to pick it up at reception. It was great to get to know Tara and hope that she doesn't lose anymore stuff.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Grand adventures and travel blog gatherings!
Fantastic that you were able to get together for a day. Tragic that the camera is lost but hopefully soon it will be replaced. I'm sorry to hear that people from the U.S. have decreased their visits to Bolivia and it is rich in history and beauty. One day we will get there!