Getting Historical

My buddy Mateo and I coloring on Dia Del Nino

It’s hard to believe that it is turning May and the end of my trip is insight.  I’m excited to return to the states and see my family and friends and to share all my stories from Bolivia.  But, I am also saddened at the thought of leaving Bolivia.  There are so many people here that have become a part of my life.  Especially the children who have stolen my heart and refuse to give it back.  It always brightens my day when I hear a child yell my name then almost tackle me as the wrap around my leg.  Also, when my little buddy Mateo, who is one and some change, is crying and then sees me across the room and stops.  Then he makes his way through the room and throws his arms in the air so that I will pick him up.  Or, when his big sister, who is 4, tries to beat up a grown kid because he hit me in the shoulder and I have to hold her back as she is yelling “don’t hit my friend.”  It’s the moments like that that I will never forget, knowing that I am making some sort of a difference in the lives of these kids.  Well that’s just a few thoughts about that.  Now I can fill you in on a couple of my travels before I get too far behind.

 

The classic Tiwanaku Photo

Easter weekend I made a day trip to visit the ancient ruins of Tiwanaku.  I figured that living so close to it, that I had no excuse for not visiting it.  Plus since I am interested in history and ancient cultures, I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if I didn’t go…  So two of the Germans and I woke up early Saturday morning to meet our bus that would take us to the city of Tiwanaku.  After about a 2 hour ride, we arrived in the city.  It didn’t look like much at first, but we were still optimistic.  The Tiwanaku were an ancient civilization in the Andean Mountains of South America.  The civilization is thought to have originated around the year of 1,500 BC and to have lasted until the year of 1,000 AD.  They controlled a majority of territory of which now are Bolivia, Peru, northern Chile and Argentina.  It is believed that after the fall of the Tiwanaku that the civilization split up into other smaller civilizations and spread out throughout South America.  One of those civilizations was the Incans who became the most powerful civilization in South America.  The others are thought to be the Aymara and the Quechua who are the two main indigenous groups that remain here in Bolivia today.  During the Incan Conquest of the Andes, they came across the empty ruins of Tiwanaku.  Coming across these old ruins was a blow to their claim that the Incans were the first humans on Earth.  The first time that Tiwanaku was ever recorded in history was when the Spanish Conquistadores stumbled across these ruins in the Late 1,500’s while searching for other Incan cities to conquer.  Not much is known about the Tiwanaku because they had no written language.  Also much digging and archeology is still needed because only about 30 percent has been uncovered of what still remains in the site.

 

Some of the restoration that has been done on the pyramid of Akapana

There are few small museums at Tiwanaku that hold a handful of artifacts that have been dug up around the site.  A few interesting things are there but nothing that would knock your socks off.  After touring the museums we walked out to the ruins.  Researchers have begun  restoring the pyramid of Akapana which once had stood high over everything in the valley.  On top of this pyramid they practiced human sacrifices to the Gods.  It was constructed out of Adobe, so now after thousands of years of rain and wind it has eroded into a weird shaped mound of dirt.  Next we went into the Temple of Kalasasaya.  It is a rather large open aired temple with some statues and stone structures, but a lot has yet to be uncovered because I noticed myself tripping over rather large structural stones buried below my feet.  It was slightly impressive. Next we walked over to the large monolithic sun gate.  Though it does not stand in the place it was intended (no one knows for sure exactly where it actually stood during the time of the Tiwanaku), it still is a rather impressing piece of work.  The sun gate has carvings on it to represent the days, weeks, months, and seasons of the year which are rather accurate. After a few minutes of talking about it we made our way out of the temple and down to the lower temple of Sunkon.  This is the temple that most people think of when they think of Tiwanaku.  It’s where you can get the well known Tiwanaku photo of the site.  The walls are lined with sculptures of faces all the way around.  It seems as if the faces represent many cultures from around the world which is really mind blowing.  A handful of people say that extra terrestrials helped to build these temples because a few of the faces seem to look like that of aliens.  We made our way out of the temple then up and over the pyramid of Akapana to get a view of the temples from above.  I have to say that in all it is a pretty impressive place to visit if you like history and mysteries but there is much research and digging that needs to be done to understand more about this civilization.

 

Monolithic statue that sits in the temple of Kalasasaya

Teresa and I had the Sun Gate

The faces that line the walls of the temple Sunkon

This past weekend I and two other volunteers from Hope Worldwide went to Copacabana to visit the Isla Del Sol (Island of the Sun).  Much of Incan history revolves around the lake and this island.  According to Incan legend, after a great flood, the god Viracocha came up from Lake Titicaca to create the world.  He commanded the sun, moon and stars to rise, then went to Tiwanaku to create the first human beings, Mallku Kapac and Mama Ocllo. These first humans were formed from stone and brought to life by Viracocha, who commanded them to go out and populate the world. So this makes Lake Titicaca the birthplace of the Incas, whose spirits return to their origin in the lake upon death.  It was a main pilgrimage sight for many of the Incans who would regularly come to worship the Sun God.  Research has shown that human life has existed on the island since 2,200 BC.  The Tiwanaku also were present on the island before the Incans were to have discovered it.  The Tiwanaku had a ritual site on top of one of the mountains in the northern part of the island.  It is amazing how the Tiwanaku site and Isla Del Sol are so tightly knit together.

 

Sunset from the beach of Copacabana

We arrived to Copacabana Friday evening and quickly found a hostel to stay the night in.  Once we had our rooms we threw down our bags and made our way to the beach to watch the sun set behind Peru on the other side of the lake.  While waiting I got us a few tickets to leave early the next morning on a boat to Isla Del Sol.  After buying the tickets we continued to watch the amazing sunset.  With everything getting darker we made our way back up the hill towards the hostel where we stopped at a restaurant for dinner on the way.  I of course had the trucha (trout); I mean “hey we are in Copacabana right?”  Normally, I have only eaten the fried trucha but this time I tried it a little different.  I ordered the stuffed trucha which consisted of a baked trout stuffed with bacon and spinach.  It was a very tasty and I guess healthy meal, if you like that kind of thing.  After sitting around and trying to plan the next day out, we headed back to the hostel to turn in for the night.  The next morning came early as we made our way down for breakfast and then to the docks to catch our boat.  The boat filled up with people and we began our two hour boat ride to the northern end of La Isla Del Sol.  Though the water was fairly smooth, a couple people got a tad bit sea sick along the way.  I hate to see someone go down like that because I have definitely been in that situation before…  We met a few people on the boat and shared traveling stories.  That’s one thing I enjoy about traveling, meeting people who are also traveling and you are able to hear about the places they have been and decide if you want to go there as well.  Once on the island, we ditched our guide so that we could explore and not feel like we were being babysat.

 

View from the beach of Isla Del Sol

This little piggy went to the market, this little piggy went to wallow in the mud

We set off on the trail in search of the Sacred Stone.  We came across a young girl who told us which way to go.  We walked for about 15-20 minutes until we got to the edge of the island and we could not find a sacred stone anywhere.  So we took some photos because from where we were the views were amazing, then we made our way back to the girl.  She said she would show us where it was so we followed her for one minute and we were at the Sacred Stone.  It was in the middle of some rock walls and farmers crops.  No wonder we couldn’t find it.  The Sacred Rock was one of the most important sites in the Incan Empire.  We still couldn’t find the Incan ruins that were near there but I realized later that all those rock walls around us were the Incan ruins.  After snapping some photos with the rock we continued on the trail that took us to an amazing overlook where many people were chilling in the sun.  From there we walked over to the rock table which is near the temple of the sun.  It is said that the table was used to make sacrifices to the gods.  They were some pretty amazing things to see and you could basically explore and touch what you wanted to, which is one of the things that I like about many of the places here.  With time running thin before our boat was to leave, we made our way back across the island and hopped on the boat.  It took us to the floating islands of Bolivia.  Yea they are floating islands, but nothing too impressive.  They were kind of a joke to me but they do serve some tasty fried trucha on them.  After eating, we made our way back to Copacabana.  Once on land, we climbed up Mt Calvario to watch the sunset across the lake.  I had seen the sunrise from there before but never a sunset and it proved to be amazing.  Afterwards, we descended the mountain and stopped by a restaurant to eat.  Next, we grabbed some coffee and made our way back to the hostel to catch some Z’s. 

 

I think I found a place to build my dream home...

Me looking for the Sacred Stone of the Incas

Couldn't pass up this photo

Sacred stone table for sacrifices

In the morning, we had some breakfast and made our way to the beach to have a small little church service and communion as we watch the sun lighting up everything around the lake.  Since our bus was leaving soon, we went and got all our stuff packed and did some last minute exploring around the city squares before we started to make our way home.  I truly had a great time on this short little trip.  Copacabana is a nice place to relax and Isla Del Sol is a beautiful place to visit.  It was full of breathtaking views and history.  I definitely want to return to Isla Del Sol and go camping on the beach for a couple days.  I saw a few people doing that and it seems like a great time.  So we will see how things work out here in the future.

Sun setting from Mount Calvario....

A few minutes later.....

And a few more minutes later....

The Harbor lighting up on Sunday morning

“This Is CHORO!!”

Us at the beginning of El Camino de Choro

When I think back to my trip from this last weekend, I am so bewildered.  It was one of the most amazing and beautiful trips that I will most likely never do again…  I have never been on a trip so beautiful and painful, adventurous and exhausting, exciting and miserable.  I recommend this trip to anyone who is adventurous enough to try it but I do not recommend doing it as we did.  Felix, Mathias, Nils, and I hiked the Choro Trail here in Bolivia.  Choro Trail is a pre-Columbian road over 5 centuries old that the Incans and other indigenous used to travel back and forth and haul their goods for trade.  It is basically a 3 day trip from the “La Cumbre” at an altitude of 15,750ft down to the low valleys near “Coroico” at an elevation of 3,850ft.  Sounds easy right?  Only a little over 40 mile journey.  Well we decided to set some regulations to our trip to make it more interesting.  First of all we had to dress in the attire of some local Campeseños here near La Paz which consists of a red poncho, llulu, sombrero, and sandals.  Secondly, we limited our food to bread, onions, bananas, charque (a type of jerky from here that is not too tasty), and water.  Lastly, we could not camp in camping zones, we had to find somewhere out on the trail to pitch our tent.  This trip was intended to be a manly trip.  Sounds like a good idea but we learned that we may have made a mistake…

The Choro Trail starts off in the Snow covered mountains of La Cumbre

We set off Saturday morning.  We realized we really didn’t plan things out well but we were willing to figure things out as we went along.  We went to the place where buses leave to go to Coroico hoping that one could drop us off as it passed over La Cumbre but for a cheaper price.  Well they wanted to charge us full price.  So we asked around until we found two taxi drivers who kept haggling prices with us until one of them hit a good number.  We jumped in his taxi and headed out of the city towards the snow covered mountains of the La Cumbre.  Within 30 minutes we were there and then we got the taxi driver to take a few pictures for us before he turned back.  We then went to the beginning of the trail which headed out towards some snowy mountains.  We soon learned that our sandals might not have been a good idea because our feet were already beginning to hurt but it was too late to turn back now.  We continued on hiking over the mountains where we met an older guy named Angel.  He was heading to a village along the trail where he was born to take some things to his parents that they needed.  He was a pretty interesting guy so we walked along with him and his radio.  On our way over the mountain, we came across an inner tube.  So I suggested we take it up the mountain and slide down on the snow.  So we all took a break so that everyone could slide down the mountain including Angel.  It was something I had wanted to do ever since I saw the snow covered mountains here in La Paz, so I was pretty happy.  After our short break we continued up to the top of the mountain where the trail began to wind down towards the valleys. 

Angel Sliding down the Mountain

It was very Cold with the wind blowing over the mountains

The views from the top were breath-taking.  We were in the clouds and surrounded my snow.  Down the mountain you could see the beginning of the green valleys.  So after a few photos we started making our way down.  Soon we encountered a heard of pack llamas making their way up the road hauling medicines up from the valleys to sell in La Paz.  It was awesome to see this in person.  I had always seen in on TV or in photos in books but in person it is so much better.  We talked to the shepherd a bit and he showed us his hondas.  No it’s not a car; they are sling shots like David used to kill Goliath in the Bible.  So as we continued walking Angel told us that he had some that he could sell us once we got to his house.  So we continued down the mountain until we reached a valley at the bottom with some ancient Incan ruins where we took a break to eat some bread and charque and drink a little bit of water.  After the short break we continued walking down the grassy valley passing by more ruins and free roaming llamas and horses.  After a few more hours we were finally passing through Angel’s village.  We went to his house to meet his mother who was out in the fields with the llamas.  She was a little old lady and we couldn’t understand anything that she was saying, but we ended up buying a few hondas and a fishing pole.  Angel really liked my back pack, apparently more than I did because I sold it to him.  I then got a sack like the cholitas use from his mother so I could carry all my things with me on the trail.  After saying goodbye we left and continued making our way down the trail.  I think I made a good deal because that backpack was killing my shoulders along the way but with my new sack everything was so much more comfortable.

Herd of Pack Llamas carrying medicine up from the valleys

Incan Ruins at the base of the mountains

Looking off into the Valleys

Angels Mother and her house

My new sack to carry my things

A little ways down the trail we decided to take another break down by the river to eat some bananas and bread and to practice a bit using our new sling shots.  We decided it was time to get a move on and that we were getting behind so we loaded up everything and continued our walk down the valley.  We were starting to get into the Yungas and the scenery was changing as well.  We started in barren snow covered mountains and then made our way through grassy green valleys, but now we were getting into some thicker vegetation with trees and all kinds of unusual plants springing up around us.  The sights continued to blow our minds with the beauty that we saw in every direction.  We continued walking as the sun was going down and everything was growing darker.  We passed through the first camp site where many people spend their first night on the trail.  We waved to them and continued making our way down the trail through some thick forest.  About an hour and half down the way we decided it was time to find a place to pitch the tent.  So we continued walking until we found a place wide enough along the trail to put up the tent.  So just before everything was dark we got the tent set and put all our belongings inside before they got wet by the rain that was making its way into the valley.  Our tent was not that bid at all.  It had to be a 2 or 3 person tent and we crammed 4 guys into it with all our stuff.  I was not able to stretch my legs out which made it a little uncomfortable but not as uncomfortable as the rocks that we were laying on…  We continued to eat some bread and bananas and settle in for the night.  It was around 8 o’clock but we were exhausted.  Throughout the night it was so difficult to sleep.  It was so uncomfortable and our legs and feet were sore from all the walking.  I would doze off to soon wake up again.  I’m not exactly sure how much sleep I really got during the night but it couldn’t have been much.

Mathias Fishing while Nils practices with his honda

Trying to find space inside the tent

The next morning couldn’t have come soon enough.  All night I was waking up and looking out the door of the tent hoping the sun was up so I didn’t have to try to sleep anymore.  Finally, when the sun was up we got out and took down the tent.  We then had some bread and bananas for breakfast before setting off on our way again.  We had a lot of ground to cover with our 13 hours of daylight that we had ahead of us.  We were so stiff in our legs when we began trying to walk.  We had to hobble for the first 15 minutes before our feet went numb to the pain and our legs loosened up.  After that walking wasn’t so bad as long as we kept moving.  I somehow tweaked my knee the first day so it was starting to bother me a bit on the hike, especially when we were walking down steep hills.  We had to be very careful as we walked because many of the stones had been worn smooth over the many years of use and when they get wet they are very slippery.  Each one of us ended up slipping and falling a few times.  As we continued our walk we came across a beautiful waterfall where the water hits a flat rock and spreads out into a dome shape as it ran off the rock.  It was pretty amazing.  I was very excited that we kept stumbling across things as beautiful as this the whole trip.  This day was beginning to get pretty hot and humid as we got further into the jungle of the Yungas.  We eventually stopped near a place named Choro down by the river to wash our socks out and dry them on some rocks.  We soaked our feet in the cold refreshing waters and of course practiced some more with our sling shots. 

Beautiful view as the Valley begins to lighten up

Lush Green Mountains rolling off in the distance.

Cone shaped Water Fall

River where we took our mid day break

After our break we through our sacks on our backs and headed across a bridge where the trail continued to wind up the side of a mountain.  As we continued to walk up the trail we could feel the weather changing and getting hotter and more humid.  Also we could see how the plant life continued to change and get thicker.  Running low on water, we began searching for somewhere to buy a bottle of water.  Off in the distance we could see a shack a couple mountains over.  We continued winding around the trail that took us from one mountain to the other until we finally reached the shack.  It was a camp site and they had a 2-liter bottle of water for sell.  It cost 18 bolivianos.  Normally they cost 5!  So reluctantly and dying of thirst we bought the bottle of water and then continued our way down the trail.  The trail now was winding through green mountains and the hot air was getting thicker making it harder to breathe as we went along.  The trail would make its way up the side of a mountain, wrap around it, and then go back down after a little bit to cross a stream.  Then after crossing a stream it would go back up the next mountain and do it all over again.  It continued this for hours.  We were becoming dehydrated and weak.  As we were walking up a mountain I had to just stop and take a break for 30 minutes.  We finished off our water because the heat was so intense.  We ate some bread and charque hoping that the salt from the charque would helpus to retain some of our water since we were sweating it all out.  After regaining our strength we pressed on.  We ended up having to drink water from some of the mountain stream waterfalls that we came across along the way to keep ourselves from dehydrating.  It paid off because we were able to make it until it finally started to cool off as the sun was going down. 

Basically what we ate the whole trip

Beautiful Water Fall Break we took

Notice the Difference in the trail from where we began

Sun going down in the Yungas

Getting closer to the end of our light, we were hoping to make it as far as we could.  We passed through the final camp site as it was getting dark.  The woman that lived there asked if we would be staying but we told her no and that we had to keep moving on.  She then began to tell us that there were pumas and bears along the way.  We told her not to worry because we had our sling shots and she began to laugh.  It was pretty hilarious.  She gave us some water and wished us luck as we continued down the trail.  We were walking in the pitch black.  Luckily Nils thought to bring a flashlight.  We continued walking for about 30 to 45 minutes until we came across a place to put our tent.  Soon after setting up the tent, we made a small fire to roast a few onions and some charque.  We relaxed for a little bit then went to the tent hoping to get more sleep than the night before.  As I laid down, I was greeted by two good sized roots jabbing me in my ribs.  It was like a dream come true.  More like a nightmare come true.  I did sleep better than the night before except for the times I woke up when I heard some animals near the tent, when it began to rain, and when somehow our tent got infested by fleas that began biting us throughout the night. 

Setting up the tent in the Dark

Again I was happy to see the sun because I knew we would be getting out of that tent and closer to the end of our trip.  We loaded up everything and continued moving on.  For breakfast we each had a half a piece of bread and some charque because that was all we had left.  We estimated that we were about 3 hours away from the end of the Choro trail which ended in the village of Chairo.  After finally walking enough to loosen up our legs we started making good time.  But as we continued to go downhill my knee began to start hurting worse and worse with each step.  I made up my mind that when we got to Chairo I would take transportation to the place where we would catch a bus back to La Paz.  So I pressed on step after agonizing step trying to enjoy the scenery as we continued our way down.  Finally we could see Chairo off in the distance at the base of a mountain.  We had to zig zag our way down the mountain for 30-45 minutes to reach the village and my knee was killing me the whole way down.  If it wasn’t for a walking stick I had found the day before I don’t think I could have made it.  First thing we did once we reached the village was we went to a store where I bout an orange soda and a 2-liter of water.  We talked with a guy to see how much it would cost us to get a ride.  He told us 180 bolivianos and refused to go any lower.  We didn’t have that kind of money, so we decided to walk down the road to the next village where there was more transportation.  I grabbed my walking stick and hobbled on for another hour and half until we reached the next village.  There I found a taxi driver who would take us to the bus stop for 30 bolivianos.  So Nils and I hopped in and made our way to the bus stop because he had to hurry up and get back to La Paz and my knee was done.  Mathias and Felix were determined to finish the journey all the way to Coroico.  Nils and I only waited at the bus stop for about 10 or 20 minutes where I made a few friends before a van pulled up heading to La Paz.  So we jumped in and started our 2 hours and 15 minute journey back to the city. 

Sun rising in the Yungas

Once back in the city we made our way back to the house.  I had to catch a minibus to the stadium so that I could catch another minibus that would take me home.  I had to hobble my way in front of the stadium where everyone was staring at me as I made my way.  I felt like Froto from Lord of the Rings as I was hunched over hobbling along on my journey with my sack hanging over my shoulder.  Finally I caught a minibus home where the first thing I did was make my way to the fridge to find something to quench my thirst.  I drank about a liter of milk before I was finally satisfied.  I then decided it was time to take a shower since I hadn’t had one in 3 days.  Then I soaked my sore feet in some warm salt water and fell asleep on the couch.  My legs and feet are still hurting many days since I have been back.  Looking back now at my trip I can say it was one of the most amazing trips that I will probably never do again in my life.  But, I will definitely try to top it somehow…..