Tiwanaku and a bit of La Paz with all pics

Tiwanaku is how the Bolivians like to spell Tiahuanaco. It´s their site and their history so I guess we should follow suit.

I only spent four nights in La Paz. I did explore the city a bit, but most of the thing to do while in La Paz involve leaving the city.

Tiwanaku is a standard tour. It includes a pick-up from your accommodation and I´m afraid any lingering reputation for efficiency in Bolivia was crushed by being picked up 40 minutes late. The minibus lurched through La Paz´s never-ending rush hour, picking up more passengers before we scaled the only exit road to El Alto (see La Paz to Uyuni) and escaped into the Altiplano.

From there, it was a pleasant drive across a plateau 4,000 masl to Tiwanaku.

Our guide spoke excellent English, which contributed to a very enjoyable day. First we were thoroughly educated by being guided through two museums, where the detail of the hieroglyphics on the statues was interpreted for us. Most unusually, we were given enough time to properly appreciate each museum and questions were answered fully.

Tiwanaku is the name of the place where a pre-Inca civilisation had its centre. The place name is used to describe a civilisation that lasted more than 2,700 years with 4 distinct periods. Why it diminished and succumbed to Inca domination is not known. It displayed many of the characteristics of an advanced civilisation.

The site was a major ceremonial centre with several very large temples. Excavations are still incomplete and, while the archaeologists are working, photography is restricted. Luckily for us, the scientists were having a break. Only the bottom two of seven levels have yet been uncovered in this temple.

Our guide used a practical demonstration of the manner in which burial was effected - the foetal position - and gave a convincing reason to assume that Tiwakans were even smaller than modern Bolivians.

I tried to get close enough to pick out the detail of the carving on this figure. If you look carefully, or enlarge it somehow, you should be able to see sun warriors, condors and images of the sun itself. The columns representing hair braids are out of sight.The hands were across the figure´s chest (the full statue includes legs and feet) and you can just see the top of an object that was held by the left hand. If I understood correctly this means the statue represents a ruler, rather than a priest or a wise man.

The site was originally on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The lake level changed over the centuries. The room dug below ground level is believed to have been an attempt to get nearer the underworld where the dead resided. It is thought that this may have been under water - or at least under the level of the lake - at some periods.

Note the regular light and dark strips in the background. They are part of the cultivation system designed to increase production when the lake covered the depression between the temple site and the hills beyond.

Many of the features of the Inca civilisation, such as agricultural methods, astronomy and burial practices are clearly evident in Tiwanaku culture. For example, at Tiwanaku there is a "Sun Gate", which has clearly been positoned to identify the solstices and equinoxes. See the Inca equivalent in my account of Machu Picchu in July.

Maybe it´s the proximity of the underworld in the sunken temple making my hair stand on end, or maybe I just need a haircut.

The temple walls are embellished with carvings of the heads of important Tiwanakans. It is believed that they were deliberately disfigured when the personage died.

Despite the extent of the site, we were finished in time for a late lunch. This was not included in the tour price and was a rip off for 20 bolivianos, when cafes in La Paz provide a complete lunch for as little as 7Bs. I wonder how much was the guide´s cut.

One girl elected to be dropped atthe roadside. She was going on to Peru, not back to La Paz and was hoping to reach the border by local bus. This is certainly feasible, but the local buses do not run to a timetable and the border does not stay open 24 hours. We wished her well.

This is what a serious plateau looks like - 4000 masl, thousands of km long and fringed by snow-capped mountains. I´m afraid the North Is plateau is a baby in comparison.

Most of the Altiplano is covered in small tussocks. The llamas and alpacas always seemed to be grazing in between the tussocks, but I´m damned if I could see what there was to eat there.

There are crops grown, but this is the dry season and there was nothing to see.

Everyone´s first view of La Paz. All roads lead to the lip of the valley, which is almost completely built up.

You can see the CBD on the right of the picture.










Stalls in La Paz´s Witches´ Market sell all sorts of things you probably don´t want to know about in detail.

Although the Andeans are devoutly Catholic they manage to incorporate many beliefs that pre-date the arrival of Christianity. For example, no-one would consider building a new house without a llama foetus buried on the site.

You can buy love potions and things I didn´t like to ask about in these little shops.



This is not a Bolivian bank-robber or an ex-Shining Path guerilla from Peru.

The shoe-shine boys of La Paz have adopted this rather intimidating costume as their uniform. I suspect that it conceals the fact that some of them are no longer boys. Not all the voices that issue from under the balaclavas are still in the treble register.