Tiwanaku, WMD, Lake Titicaca

The best way to describe how I have felt lately is like this................



I am in magical a hallway with doors on either side, I can open anyone of the doors whenever I want, and it seems like no matter which door I open there is always something amazing inside for me to enjoy.



We were able to get Travis's bag, after a bit of yelling at American Airlines, and a free ride to the airport and back. We spent that day, August 31st, in a town called Tiwanaku. Getting there was like getting everywhere in Bolivia, we took a cab to a micro and then left. The micro was packed with locals and a few tourists. Travis had the good fortune of sitting near the door, this meant that everytime we stopped to let someone on or off he had to get the door. Travis has this look about him that makes him look like a local no matter where he goes. Today that meant that the older traditionally dress women on the micro were very worried he would get left behind everytime he got off to open the door and let someone on or off. First they would yell at him in Aymara, then they would try Spanish, at which point I would translate and tell him to get in. This happened at least 4 times before we actually arrived in Tiwanaku.



I was super stoked to go to this "ancient ruined city". It was founded some 3 million millenia ago and it was the original site of these terraced farming ledges called sukakullos. It was amazing to walk among such an ancient place. It was difficult not to appreciate the intellegence and motivation of these people. We spent the entire day wandering the ruins. We used an ancient megaphone in a rock that worked really well, and enjoyed lunch in a local restaurant. We caught what we thought was going to be a micro back to La Paz but it turned out that this particular micro was not allowed to drive into La Paz Thursday through Sunday because it did not have the correct license plate (yes, this is really what they said to me, no doubt). We then did a "hot lap" (as Mondo called it) around the mostly indigenious city of El Alto. El Alto is a place where we stuck out like not just sore thumbs but swollen white sore thumbs (except Travis of course) and where you can literally purchase anything, even brand name stollen goods. We coerced at mirco to bring us back to La Paz for 20 Bolivianos. The whole experience made all of us giggle.



The next day we woke up early and went to a cafe, where we met our fearless leader Dale. He was to be our guide for our bikeride down the WMD (which is not short for weapon of mass destruction but world's most dangerous road). It was a beautiful easy ride that started at about 14,000 + feet and ended at about 6000 feet. The road was curvy with humongus drops off the side, and tons of other people either driving or riding down the road. The ride finished at this place called La Senda Verde, an animal retreat/bed & breakfast. There we were provided with a free dinner, shower (complete with shampoo, soap and towel) and free t-shirts. But the truly cool part were the animals. All the monkeys, birds, badger like animals, and dogs are there as permanent guest or to be rehabilitated and re-released into the wild (this was mostly true for the monkeys, the dogs are just pets). Most of the monkeys were either pets or in a show of sorts and the owners were unable to continue caring for them. There was one howler monkey (who could leave if she pleased), three spider monkeys (who could leave if they pleased) and tons of capuchin and little yellow monkeys. We decided to stay the night, which turned out to be magical.......once the other riders leave the monkeys relax and become your best friend. Before any of us knew what was happening there were all sorts of monkeys climbing all over us (they are all given preventative rabies shots by a volunteer vet from New Zealand). It was amazing!

That night a few of the people who work at the refuge invited us to a local parade (it was the beginning of a long holiday). It turned out we were marching in the parade and were invited to sing (don't worry, those of you who have heard me sing...I held my tongue). The next day we continued to play with the monkeys. At one point, my head became the safe haven of the small badger like creature who was being chased by one of the dogs!!! The thing was litterally on my head and attempting to climb into my shirt. That night we caught a free ride back to the hostal, enjoyed a rowdie night, which included Travis asking the following question "how do normal people do it?" (I was not looking at him at the time but apparently he was trying to play the air gituar.)

The next day August 4th, very tired and a bit loopy in the brain, we caught a bus to Lake Titicaca. It was truly breath taking to slowly drive over a hill and spot the lake for the first time. The blue color is a rich dark blue from far away and a turquoise green up close. We were headed for the town of Copacabana. This meant that we actually had to get off the bus at one point and be driven across the lake in a separate boat, while the bus crossed on a barge. This is done not to milk yet more money from the tourists but because a few years ago, a barge with a bus full of people sank (no one was hurt, just cold and wet). We arrived to the maddness of Copacabana at about 12pm. As I stated earlier it is a long holiday week here in Bolivia. I have yet to be truly clear on what has been happening but from what we can gather, there is this huge celebration of the virgen, followed by Bolivian independence day. Apparently the virgen celebration is actually a Peruvian thing (we can see Peru from the beach) and there are ton's of Peruvian tourist. Either way this place is a madhouse!!!

We checked into a hotel, got lunch (it was about this time that Travis's stomach decided to stop cooperating and has yet to behave) and then wandered about the city. We walked up to Cero Calvario, it is here that one can truly appreicate the intermingling of the traditional Aymara beliefs and Catholicism working hand in hand. It is a huge steep hill, with crosses all the way up, and along the sides of the path are people selling miniture versions of all the things a person could desire. Really, you can purchase model trucks/cars, fake money, alcohol, homes, small statues that symbolize all sorts of things, firecrackers, confetti, you name it and you can buy it. Once at the top of the hill you find a small virgin statue, there we observed people say a prayer and then go to a traditional shaman. The shaman then goes through a long and complicated process of blessing all the items you have purchased (this includes, spraying beer on everyone, tapping them with a dead armadillo and blowing sweetly scented smoke into the air, throwing confetti into their hair, and finally lighting firecrackers.) It was just fantastic to watch. It does not end there, then the people collect their goods and walk still higher to pray to another virgin. The idea is that by blessing these offerings and bringing them to the virgin you ensure the arrival of these items in one years time (love, money, cars etc).

Then we wandered down to the main cathedral which is where preists bless peoples cars. Here people purchase streamers, ribbons, bows and confetti. They decorate their car, the preist then blesses the car by throwing beer onto the car, the people finish the beer and then drive away. It is pretty hysterical, not only do most people get a bit tipsy but the beer makes the confeti stick to the window when they drive away which means no one can see where they are going.

Having had enough of the madness we decided to leave for the Island of the Sun (Isla del Sol) the next day. We deciede to walk along an old Incan trail (which is now a road) 17km to the town of Yampupata. There we caught a boat to the island. We spent the night on the island, which is truly a magical place. To the south east you can see the snow covered mountains in La Paz, to the west you can watch the water swallow the sun at sunset and to the west you can also see Peru. It is easy to understand why the Inca's determined this to be a holy place, the place where the sun and the moon were born in fact. We wandered about the island walking from the south end to the north end, visiting Incan ruins along the way. Then we returned to Copacaban via boat. We returned to more mayhem than we left, there were people singing in to a bullhorn until about 3 this morning.

Today we are taking it easy, catching up on email, and trying to help poor Travis who really has a case of travelers stomach (think good things for him!). Tonight we leave for Puno, Peru. I am leaving with great ambivalence but I am really excited to be continuing our adventures!