Our first visit this morning was to the ruined ancient city of Tiwanaku, which although was only about 35kms as the crow flies, the road trip was 109 kms and took a couple of hours. A few snaps through the window as we passed by the fields and through a couple of small towns (sorry about the reflections/dirt).
When we arrived at the ancient site, these school kids were desperate to have their photo taken with Ian.
We picked up our local guide here and she is only early 20s and a little wacky to say the least. Although she's half Bolivian she was bought up in the US and finds the spiritual side of Bolivian culture fascinating, so there are frequent references to Pachamama etc.
(Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes. She is also known as the earth/time mother. In Inca mythology, Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes.)
Tiwanaku was a pre Columbian (ie before 1492) city occupied between the 4th and 8th centuries by 10-20,000 people and whilst most of the buildings were made of adobe, some structures like the Sun Gate and these were of stone and have survived.
With the protests now finished we were able to retrace our steps along Route 1 and continue into La Paz. A few more snaps from the bus along the way (I'm also beginning to wonder if the windows are tinted)
First we had to drive through the Bolivia's second largest city, El Alto, which is just outside La Paz near the airport and the world's highest major metropolis. According to Derek it is also one of the most dangerous places on earth; where gangs run rife and local laws and justice are metered out by vigilante groups - one can only image what this gruesome image is a warning of.
Clearly not all dwellings have their own washing facilities.
This 30ft tall statue of Che Guevara, made entirely out of scrap metal, stands in El Alto. Argentinian born Che, a leading figure in Cuba's successful guerrilla revolution over the Batista Regime was of course killed in Bolivia in 1965 allegedly by CIA assisted Bolivian forces.
Looking down on La Paz it is the most amazing city; built in a canyon surrounded by very high mountains.
Having dumped our bags we went out for a short walk to orientate ourselves. The combination of altitude and pollution (the geographical design of the city somehow holds the pollution in) made walking very difficult and we didn't venture far from our hotel. So just a couple of street snaps.
We have a proper city tour and a trip to 'moon valley' tomorrow but now we´re off to the 15th floor to have a glass of wine and watch the sun set over Mt Illimani (21,122 ft snow covered) used as the logo for Paramount Pictures. The restaurant wasn't yet open but one of the waiters very kindly let us go out onto the small terrace and then took our photo.
We then booked a table for dinner and when we went back later we were rewarded with this glorious sunset as well as a delicious meal of garlic prawns.
