On Saturday, we took a tour to the Tiwanaku ruins about 45 miles west of La Paz. Tiwanaku was a powerful culture for over 500 years(that’s 5 times longer than the Incas and about as long as the Romas). I was surprised I had never hear about this culture since it was the longest running civilization in South America. They lived sometime between AD300 to AD1000.
Tiwanaku Idol
All their temples were built according to the position of the sun and moon and they used calendars year round. Their main crop was potatoes. Researchers believe that 60% of the city was destroyed by the Spanish, who stole stones from the site in the 1500s to build churches. Christians also defaced a lot of the Tiwanaku monuments, as you can see crosses carved into the stone.
Stone Carving
Tiwanaku Stone Head Carvings
The Sun Gate at TiwanakuClose up view of Sun GateBackside of Sun Gate
Here’s a few other pics from Tiwanaku ruins:
Map of ruinsPart of Pyramid
Tour BusOn the bus
After our tour, back in La Paz, we had a great Mexican dinner(a first since USA), followed by a little unintentional shopping on the way home. 🙂
La Cuerva “The Cave”
Kat was excited about having a winter coat and Kane for his Manchester United Sweat Suit.
Yes, the scribble, that now clearly looks like 60, is how many days we were allowed in Peru. We just assumed we had 90 days, like most visitors. We started talking about going to Bolivia the week before Easter, since our kids would be off school for a couple days. Since we were thinking about this, we started checking out our visa and could not figure out when it expired. Thanks to our spanish school owner, Rik, who clearly noticed the 60, we realized that we had 5 days before it expired. After doing some research(as well as a trip to immigrations where the man at the desk gave me his personal cell phone number-kind of sleazy), we decided we would just be illegal in Peru for 5 days and pay the $1 per day fee at the airport.
Walking down our street to catch a taxi to the airport.Getting ready for our first flight to Bolivia.
After a thorough inspection of our $1 bills and disregarding about 10 of them(they have to be perfect with no tears), we were able to pay our fee at Peru Immigrations and head to security. Kat got stopped going through security, because she had Scott’s duct tape(or should I say “medical” duct tape, Scott broke his toe earlier in the week and this is what he was using to tape them together) in her backpack. They confiscated the tape even though I tried to tell them in spanish that my poor husband need it for his broken toe and that he wasn’t planning on tying anyone up on the plane. 🙂
After a short 45 minute plane ride, we landed in La Paz, Bolivia at the worlds highest airport at 13,323 feet. The airpot sits on the altiplano. La Paz is the highest capital in the world at 11, 975 feet above sea level.
Landed in La Paz!This is what you need to get into Bolivia.
The view of La Paz is striking, especially from El Alto (“The Heights”), and driving on the highway into the city. La Paz is nestled into a high valley of the Andes Mountains(much like Cusco), surrounded by the altiplano. The city has expanded onto the steep hillsides surrounding the valley.
We spent our first day in La Paz taking in the sights and sounds. Our favorite part was shopping in the Witch’s Market.
The local buses are so retro!
Kat”s new sweater and flute from the Witches Market.Kane’s first guitar made by Felix in the Witches Market.
See the llamas.
Wandering around the “witches market” is an experience to remember. On top of the usual fruit, vegetables, herbs and touristy merchandise of other South American markets, the La Paz Witches Market offers dried Llama fetuses that locals bury under their front porches for good luck. There are stalls selling spells and local remedies for illnesses.
It was wonderful being in La Paz on Palm Sunday. In front of the churches, ladies were selling palms, food, and Easter candy.
San Francisco Church
We did not see Easter candy in Cusco, so kids were excited to see it here.
One of our favorite moments in La Paz was feeding the pigeons at Plaza Murillo! The joy in my families faces feeding the pigeons was priceless!! Who knew that 29 cents worth of pigeon feed could provide countless fun.
Pictures from Plaza Murillo:
Neoclassical Cathedral that took 152 years to buildPlaza Murillo-named after General Murillo one of the Bolivian heroes of the independence movement.Congress Building
Presidential Palace – it has been burned 8 times.Great place for Breakfast in La Paz
Scott’s La Paz corner:
Well, after Lima, I was a bit skeptical of big cities in South America, but I have to say La Paz was great. At ~2 million, it struck me as “Cusco’s older cousin.” Very similar geography, perhaps more diverse in Architecture, a bit less touristy (the street vendors are not in your face). We had a great time there, and really just started to scratch the surface of this place. If you are traveling to Bolivia, and have 2 weeks, I’d spend at least 3 days in La Paz.
