#24 Tiawanaku #4

These are some of the mountains we saw.  We are on our way to Tiawanaku
which is about an hour from LaPaz.  This is a village where pre-hispanic cultures of the
south Andes are.They date back around 400 - 1100 AD.  

The village is located in a large flat valley.

We stopped along the road  before we got to Tiwanaku.
We found two men and two woman arranging small
objects on some cloths.  They are chiefs and their wives.
They are making an offering to Pachu- Mama.  Which is
Mother Earth.

This was all very interesting to watch.

They had everyone get in a circle and they gave us each several
of these white chalk items. We gave ours to someone else
in the circle and we just watched.  Everyone walked around
and laid their objects on the cloth.  Many were praying out loud.

One of the Chiefs.  They were saying prayers.

We visited the Kalasasaya Temple, Acapana Temple, Undergound Temple,
Litic and Potter Museum.

This is a giant sandstone statue called the
"Bennett"  It has many symbols carved on it.

This is a stone doorway found in one of the Temples.

This is thought to be a baptismal font.  It is located close to the Temples.

This is the Gateway of the Sun.

There are many symbols carved on all these statues and rock.

An internal wall of the Temple with embedded head carvings.

The gateway of the Moon.

This is the way they held the large stone blocks together.
Their technology was remarkable. The picture below
show all their straight angles and lines.

 

On our way to the airport in LaPaz we saw these colorful costumes.
The people were also celebrating Pachu-Mama. They were 
dancing along side the paved road.

 

 

These people have wonderful faces.

This person had a costume and a mask.  Notice the lady's great
looking hat. 

One more beautiful mountain to look at. This is right outside LaPaz.

#23 Taquile Island / Puno #3

Another picture of this woman's beautiful cape. We are leaving Amantani
Island.  You can see the boat we were riding on docked a the left. 

The next island we visited was Taquile.  The boat left us on this side
of the island and we hiked up staring here, had lunch on top and hiked
back down the other side.  

This is a view of how they terrace on all these islands so they can
farm and raise food to eat.  The Lake Titikaka was so beautiful
and blue. 

This is where we ate lunch.  It had a nice view of the island and lake.

They had beautiful  weavings done by the native people.  This is a large
belt a woman would make for her husband to be.  The black stripes
on the top are her own black hair. 

This is the other side of the island as we were walking down.
  A lot more terraces.

This is down to the bottom of where we hiked
down the island.  We had to go down about
600 steps.  

This is just as you got to the top there was a  large plaza.

This boy was flying a pink kite.

These two men were sitting at the plaza with their hats and native dress.
All the men wear hats. The color of your hat and how you wear  it tells
 if you are married,single or  interested .

These are taxis we saw in Peru.

Another taxi in Puno, Peru.

Sorry I got this picture out of order.
This is the view as we climbed down the stairs of Taquile Island.
You can see the boats waiting to take us back to Puno.
The water of Lake Titikaka was really that blue.
It was about a 6 hour boat ride.  Lake Titkaka in huge!!

Another taxi in Puno.

#22 LaPaz & Peru Trip #2

We are on our way to Copacabana.  We had to cross Lake Titikaka
here.  We got on this boat.  Helen Kennedy is the first to get on.

Our van we were riding in got on this barge with this truck.

They took even large buses across. 

These are women from Copacabana.  We climbed these stairs
up a mountain at Copacabana.  

This is a view of Copacabana.

When you climb the mountain along the way people pick up
rocks representing the size of their sins.  They place them along
the way at crosses.  President Crayk found a rock just the right
size for him. 

We visited The Sun Island  where the Chikana Ruins are.
These are cleansing chambers we are standing in.

Some more of the ruins. These were built and used by the Incas.

A table used for sacrifices.  Some of the ruins have been
rebuilt.

We traveled to Sun Island on this boat.  The Lake was
very rough that morning.  Not everyone in the group
made it there before they lost their breakfast. 

This is a trail we could hike to other side of the island.

We got on this nice bus to go to Puno, Peru.

The first place we visited was the Urus Islands.  They are
completely made from reeds.  They float out in Lake Titikaka.
There was 70 of these small islands.

These women greeted our boat as we got to the islands.

This is a house on the island. About 6 to 7 families live on one island.
Their house are made of reeds and have one room.  They use
generators for electricity.

Another view of the island. When you walked on the island
it was like walking on a sponge. 

Lloyd made friends with these children.  We took them a small
gift of some pencils.

They travel from island to island on these boats and they
also have some small wooden boats.

The next island we visited was Amantani  Island.
Their homes were neat and  only  a few dog and no garbage
on this well cared for island.

A man and his burro.  You had to be in shape to live here.
Everywhere we walked it was up hill.

This man and woman were carrying heavy loads up the path.

That night a few men played some music and we danced with
some other tourists and native people.  Here Luis our guide is
having a good time dancing with a native woman.

We stayed at the Kantuta Lodge.  It was not fancy.  This is our
room.  No towels or shampoo here and also no toilet seats
on the toilets.   ???

The woman on this Island wore black heavy cloths over their heads.
They were beautifully embroidered.