Trip to Peru 1

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On June 27th, following the Fiesta del Sol at the Community, I joined a group of about 40 people (most of them from Venezuela) to Peru. We travelled from Cochabamba to La Paz by bus through the night (the journey takes about 7-8 hours). The week-long Fiesta del Sol which is really the Inka New Year was most enjoyable and included many ceremonies and other activities including climbing a sacred mountain. The climb took all day and was quite arduous but well worth it.

The overnight journey was in a luxury bus where one could almost lie down and we arrived at about 6am in La Paz which is the highest capital city in the world at 12,000 feet. It is a stunning city perched on many hills and overlooked by snow-capped mountains. Another bus met us in La Paz and after breakfast took us to an ancient pre-Inca site close to Lake Titicaca called Tiahuanaco. This site is believed to have been built by a civilisation that started around 600 BC which had disappeared by 1200 AD. This civilisation covered a wide area and its treasures have been spread around the world. There are numerous buildings to be explored and a museum. There was a wonderful atmosphere here and the surrounding environment was altiplano, reminding me of photos of Tibet and Mongolia.

From Tiahuanaco we travelled on to Copacabana, arriving just in time to see the sun set into Lake Titicaca. Copacabana is a beautiful little town on an eastern shore of this vast lake. It has a Mediterranean feel to it with numerous cafes and many artists selling their wares on the streets. We slept in a house across the bay from the town. There were no street lights there to obscure the stunning array of stars at night. In the morning, after meditation, we were rowed across the lake to the town by some local fishermen for a wonderful breakfast in a local hotel. We had the day to explore Copacabana and then travelled by night to Cuzco in Peru.

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Photos

Tiahuanaco Artifact
Within the museum were a few of the works of art of this vibrant community. We were prohibited from photographing many of them. This beauty was an exception.

Copacabana Sunset
The sun is a most important focus of Inka and pre-Inka life and ceremonies. It is regarded as a representation of the one source of all life.

Copacabana Morning
This was such a lovely way to start the day. Lake Titicaca is very beautiful and for two days almost we journeyed around it, observing the rural and marine life around it. It is also the home of the Bolivian navy who have not had a proper coast to work from for more than a hundred years since Chile took it away! I look rather well padded because it was very cold and so we wore many layers.