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Published: July 14th 2006
On our second day in La Paz (I believe this would be July 9, but don´t quote me on that, I´ve completely lost track of the days of the week let alone the date), Martina and I visited Tiawanaku, one of the most important pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Bolivia. The city was pre-Inca as well and had three temples- one below ground with heads carved from stone jutting out of the walls, one at ground level and one built on a hill top. Each represented a different level of the Tiawanaku cosmology- the underworld, this world and the heavens where the gods resided. It was a fascinating tour with a Bolivian guide who spoke English at a rapid fire pace leaving us to decipher what he was trying to say (at one point I thought he said something about sacrificing BELGIANS rather than virgins, which made complete sense after our Salkantay trip). The site is still being worked on by archaeologists and, unfortunately, is not nearly as impressive as Machu Pichu. Next time, remind us to save the best for last.
On the 10th, we catch an early morning bus to Copacabana from La Paz. There, we decide to catch a boat to Isla de Sol, which Molly told me was THE Lake Titicaca isalnd to visit and of course she was right (as always- thanks Molly!). We spent two nights here. When we arrived we had to walk up a flight of stairs carved from stone from the port to the village at the top of the south end of the island. The angle must be around 70 degrees and with our back packs, we´re both feeling like Sisyphus. We let a boy guide us to a hostel where we get a room with an amazing view of the lake for $5 a night. It also has an hot shower in the shared bathroom' luxury! We hike out to a ruin on the southern end of the Island then watch the sun set with an Argentine couple we just met. A great night.
The next day, we decide to hike the Island loop, walking from our hostel North along the west side, visiting the ruins, overrun by those pesky tourists, on the north end and hiking back along the east side. The scenery was breathtaking and different on both sides. On the west, we walked along highground over looking the lakes while on the east side the hike alternated between cliffs and sandy beaches and villages that tourism left behind. A six and a half hour walk, followed by a great dinner and an early night.
Yesterday, we caught the boat back to Copacabana and then boarded a bus for Arequipa. I schmoozed with a Danish guy, travelling with his girlfriend, that M and I met on the tour of Tiawanaku (while travelling, you tend to meet the same people over and over again) on the way to Puno where we had to switch buses. The trip to Arequipa was supposed to take 5 hours, getting us in around nine. Instead, we drove to Juliaco, picking up passengers at an unfathomable amount of stops. We finally got to Arequipa at 10:30 and took a cab to our hotel for some much needed sleep.
Today, we wandered Arequipa and visited the Monastery here, which is actually a convent. I´m not sure how that works. It´s a gigantic complex, a citadel really, with beautiful paintings and strange statues of Jesus intermingling with ascetic cells and barbwire underwear. I kid you not- they seem to take their penance very serioulsy. THere are only 30 nuns left now and they live in a section of the complex closed off to tourists. Then it was back to our hostel, where we alternated between the Tour de France and news of Israel. Good news on one front (go Floyd!), terrible on the other.
Tomorrow, we leave for a two day trip to the local volcano, Misti, where we will hike to the top (all 5800 meters of it) and stare into the crater.
Talk to you soon,
Ben
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Travel Writer Sam
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What was the entrance fee?
Hey, how much did it cost to get into those ruins?! I need the info for my imminent deadline. *grin* Pretty please?!?!?!