Friday the 9th of May 2003 – Day 80
Got up at 8.30am. Promised I would wake trish to see Tiwanaku if she wanted to go. Got off tour buses etc. You can get there for 10 US through many agencies. Micro is just 1 US. Take your pick. Had breakfast and took off with Trish for the cemetery. Tiwanaku is located 1 1/2 hours outside of La Paz. Took a !b micro there. Trans Tours Tiwanaku, Calle José Aliaga, operates buses that stop at Tiwanaku. The buses leave from the Cementerio District every half hour from 8am to 4:30pm. The ride costs 7B. The ride left 2 minutes after we got there and took us throught El Alto, which has great views of La Paz. Apart from thw 2 of us, the bus was full of locals.
From Frommers.
A visit to Tiwanaku will take you back in time to an impressive city built by an extremely technologically advanced pre-Inca society. The Tiwanaku culture is believed to have lasted for 28 centuries from 1600 B.C. to A.D. 1200. In this time, they created some of the most impressive stone monoliths in the world, developed a sophisticated irrigation system, and gained an advanced understanding of astronomy and the workings of the sun. Their territory spread from northern Argentina and Chile through Bolivia to the south of Peru. These people never came into contact with the Incas. By the time the Incas made it to Peru, a 100-year drought had ravaged the Titicaca area. The Tiwanaku people had long ago left the region in small groups and moved to different areas in the altiplano or valleys.
The cost was 25 B buut you can sneek in it you want by walking around the fence. You can also buy an English Guide to the site for 20B if you miss a tour operator expereince.
When you visit Tiwanaku, you will first stop in at the museum, where you can observe firsthand the magnificence of the ceramics, monoliths, and figurines found at the site. The museum is only 8 months old. The exhibits will help you understand a bit of the history of this culture. There is a second museum which is more conventional with exhibites outlining times and movement of teh people.
Armed with your new knowledge, you can then head out to the site itself, where you’ll often have to use your imagination. The Incas and the Spaniards destroyed the site while searching for gold and silver. Highlights of the site include the * Semi-Underground Temple, which is decorated with stones carved in the shape of different heads from around the world; the * Kalassaya, the main temple area of the site and believed to be dedicated to the sun; and the Akapana (pyramid), believed to be an observatory and a temple to worship the sky.
I enjoyed the site (I have not been to Peru yet), and was impressed by the people who built the city. We stayed until 3.00pm and walked into town to catch a micro back. All the kids were very curious as to where we were from and why we were here. Nice church there. Took a micro back anf arrived backa t 4.30pm. Walked back to hostel with Trish after getting lunch (6 B) and buying a Boca Juniors (fake) jersey for 30 B.
Rob, I and Trish went out at 9.30am. Grabbed a bite to eat and then to “la Luna Pub”. OK, place close to the hostel. Mostly gringoes with OK atmosphere. We then went to another pub close to the blck market. Stayefd there until 1.00am and went onto “Bizarre Disco”. It was 25 B in with one free drink. Good club that went onto 5.00am. At that stage we had met a few others and went onto another pub for 1 drink. Got back at 7.30am.
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Paz – Bolivia – Tiwanaku
Taken on the 9th of May 2003
Tiwanaku (old spelling: Tiahuanaco) is an important Pre-Columbian archeological site in Bolivia. The ruins of the ancient city are on the eastern shore of Lake Titicaca, about 72 km (44 miles) west of La Paz, Bolivia. Some have hypothesized that its modern name is a corruption of the Aymara term “taypikala”, meaning “stone in the center”. However, the name used by the people of Tiwanaku to refer to it is unknown. The inhabitants of Tiwanaku had no written language.
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
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La Paz – Bolivia – Tiwanaku
Taken on the 9th of May 2003
The site of Tiwanaku was founded about 200 BC, as a small village, and it grew to urban proportions between 300 AD and 500 AD, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes. At its maximum extent, the city covered approximately 6 square kilometers, and had as many as 40,000 inhabitants. Its unique pottery style is found in vast areas covering modern Bolivia, Peru and northen Chile and Argentina. It is difficult to tell, however, whether these areas where part of an empire in the political sense or simply under cultural and commercial influence. Tiwanau collapsed around 1100 AD. The city was abandoned, and its characteristic art style vanished.
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
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La Paz – Bolivia – Tiwanaku
Taken on the 9th of May 2003
The Tiwanaku art style is distinctive, and, together with the related Huari style, defines the Middle Horizon of Andean prehistory. Both of these styles seem to have derived from that of the earlier Pukara culture, centered at the site of Pukara in the northern Titicaca Basin.
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
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La Paz – Bolivia – Tiwanaku
Taken on the 9th of May 2003
Much of the architecture of the site is in a poor state of preservation, having been subjected to looting and amateur excavations attempting to locate valuables since shortly after Tiwanaku’s fall. This destruction continued during 19th century and the early 20th century, and has included quarrying stone for railroad construction and target practice by military personnel. Today Tiwanaku is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is administered by the Bolivian government.
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
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La Paz – Bolivia – Tiwanaku
Taken on the 9th of May 2003
and Empire
Click on the picture to see it in its original size