Tiahuanaco & La Paz

16-11-09


The tour picked us up from our hotel, then proceeded to drive to every other hotel in La Paz (and a drive by of the legislature and presidential palace) before heading over the pass to Tiahuanaco.

We drove by a lot of subsistence farms and women in the hills tending the cows/goats/sheep/burros. We even got to see a few people plowing with burros and cattle. It is the beginning of rtainy season, so they are getting ready to plant.

Tiahuanaco is an ancient ruin, the capital of pre-Incan (and pre-other people, but Incan is the only one I have heard of) civilisation. Tiahuanaco started around 2,000 BCE and lasted until around 1,000 CE. They captured/settled all of the land around Lake Titicaca for a long way in every direction. When the civilisation died out, some of the northern people became the Inca. Lake Titicaca is the cradle of civilisation around here.

The ruins are pretty impressive. They are large, but not very tall. They have the requisite statues and architecture and, of course, everything is aligned to the solstices. At sunrise on the summer solstice, the sun's rays come through the east gate and illuminate the alter (to the delight of 40,000 new agers).

After returning to La Paz, we headed down to Plaza Murillo, the government center we drove by this morning. It is almost a typical South American capital square. Two sides are taken up by the church, presidential palace and the legislature. In a typical capital square, the three buildings would take up three sides. It did have the requisite statue in the middle.

Next we walked up calle Jaen, which has wonderful buildings and stone paving. I suggested a stop for a drink as the architecture to beer ratio was getting a little high. The girls both had matte, so I go to try some for the first time. Apparently it usually has more leaves (this had a tea bag), but it was really good, so I'm sure I'll get more chances to see what it is really like. We wandered back to the hotel, stopping for a lot of street food. The chocolate covered blue marshmellow on a stick was the most fun, but the rest of it was good too.

Tonight we are heading out to see some music and tomorrow we head to Lake Titicaca. The usual route is closed, so we have to go through Peru. One more country!