Our trip started with meeting our excellent guide Pablo at the hotel lobby around 8:45, then walking uphill a half block to get on the bus. It was the same style and model as the one we had been on the two weeks with Fuller Center, but - it was in much better condition and had much less wear and tear. Eight of us got on here, then drove to the La Paz bus station to pick up two more. We had a mixed crew - two young men from Brigham Young University (both Mormons, one who had finished his missionary duties in Cochabamba and spoke excellent Spanish), a couple from Germany, a couple from Sao Paulo, Brazil, two women from Lima and us. Pablo presented everything in very good English and Spanish.
While the rid was less than 70 KM in distance, it took more than 90 minutes because of the stop at the La Paz bus stop and having to go through the Saturday morning traffic and street markets in El Alto - this was a different part of El Alto on the other side of the airport from where we went each day of the build.
When we arrived, we first toured Museo Ceramico which had relics found on various architectural digs and showing the history of these going back to about 1,000 years B.C. Then in Museo Litico, we saw many monoliths and pillars found either on various digs or brought back to the museum from where they had been displayed in various cities around Bolivia. Both museums were small and prohibited photos but here is a link to a short youtube video: Museo Ceramico
We then set off to look at the various dig sites. Six of them are in one area and we began with the Piramide de Akapana. We climbed up the side of the pyramid and got to see both it and the area around us.
When we came down the far side of the pyramid, we could see some of the rooms and the different stones used as the walls were built at different eras.
We then went on to our second site called Kantatallita. It had the crosses with multiple levels and a large courtyard for public ceremonies and rituals.
Then it was on to our third site, Templete Semisubterráneo - as the name implies, the courtyard was below the ground level of the surrounding sites. There were sculptures allow the wall, each head with a different face representing the different peoples around the world and the diversity of people who lived here.
It was then on to our fourth site, Templo de Kalasasaya in which they had the Puerta de Sol, the doorway through which the sun would shine on the Winter Solstice. This is a major holiday for the Aymara peoples and would be a big day long celebration in just three days (but we would miss it).
We skipped the last two dig sites (Templo de Putini and Puerta de la Luna) and from there, we went to lunch at the El Condor restaurant. In local lore, the condor represented the heavens, the puma represented life on earth and the snake represented the underworld spirits. We had a nice lunch of quinhoa soup, a choice of entrees (I had an omelet and Patty had trout) and a tasty dessert of mango pudding with sliced bananas.
After lunch we drove to the final site (the first six all abut each other and are in one huge fenced in area) called Piramide de Pumapunku - it is the largest of the seven dig sites so far excavated.
And then it was back to La Paz, with the drive taking better than two hours because of the traffic in El Alto and La Paz - it was so bad, they let us off a couple of blocks from the hotel because the traffic was jammed up and simply not moving. A very good day trip from La Paz, I would recommend it to others.
While the rid was less than 70 KM in distance, it took more than 90 minutes because of the stop at the La Paz bus stop and having to go through the Saturday morning traffic and street markets in El Alto - this was a different part of El Alto on the other side of the airport from where we went each day of the build.
When we arrived, we first toured Museo Ceramico which had relics found on various architectural digs and showing the history of these going back to about 1,000 years B.C. Then in Museo Litico, we saw many monoliths and pillars found either on various digs or brought back to the museum from where they had been displayed in various cities around Bolivia. Both museums were small and prohibited photos but here is a link to a short youtube video: Museo Ceramico
We then set off to look at the various dig sites. Six of them are in one area and we began with the Piramide de Akapana. We climbed up the side of the pyramid and got to see both it and the area around us.
When we came down the far side of the pyramid, we could see some of the rooms and the different stones used as the walls were built at different eras.
We then went on to our second site called Kantatallita. It had the crosses with multiple levels and a large courtyard for public ceremonies and rituals.
Then it was on to our third site, Templete Semisubterráneo - as the name implies, the courtyard was below the ground level of the surrounding sites. There were sculptures allow the wall, each head with a different face representing the different peoples around the world and the diversity of people who lived here.
It was then on to our fourth site, Templo de Kalasasaya in which they had the Puerta de Sol, the doorway through which the sun would shine on the Winter Solstice. This is a major holiday for the Aymara peoples and would be a big day long celebration in just three days (but we would miss it).
We skipped the last two dig sites (Templo de Putini and Puerta de la Luna) and from there, we went to lunch at the El Condor restaurant. In local lore, the condor represented the heavens, the puma represented life on earth and the snake represented the underworld spirits. We had a nice lunch of quinhoa soup, a choice of entrees (I had an omelet and Patty had trout) and a tasty dessert of mango pudding with sliced bananas.
After lunch we drove to the final site (the first six all abut each other and are in one huge fenced in area) called Piramide de Pumapunku - it is the largest of the seven dig sites so far excavated.
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| Our guide Pablo in front of the admissions building with the thatched roof |
And then it was back to La Paz, with the drive taking better than two hours because of the traffic in El Alto and La Paz - it was so bad, they let us off a couple of blocks from the hotel because the traffic was jammed up and simply not moving. A very good day trip from La Paz, I would recommend it to others.
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