dmc bolivia
TRANSCRIPT
BOLIVIA
La Paz.
Museo de la CocaOn Calle Linares, a block south of Sagárnaga, is the small but excellentMuseo de la Coca, dedicated to the small green leaf that is both thecentral religious and cultural sacrament of the Andes and the rawmaterial for the manufacture of cocaine. The museum gives a goodoverview of the history, chemistry, cultivation and uses of this mostcontroversial of plants.
TiwanakuThe most worthwhile attraction within a few hours of La Paz is themysterious ruined city of Tiwanaku, Bolivia´s most impressivearcheological site.Set on the Altiplano 71km west of La Paz, the ancient ruined city ofTIWANAKU (also spelt Tiahuanaco) was declareted a cultural patrimonysite by UNESCO in 2000. Founded some three millennia ago, Tiwanakubecame the capital of a massive empire that lasted almost a thousandyears, developing into a sophisticated urban-ceremonial complex that, atits peak, was home to fifty thousand people. Tiwanaku remains a place ofexepcional symbolic meaning for the Aymara of the Altiplano, who comehere to make ceremonial offerings to the achachilas , the gods of themountains. The most spectacular of these, the Aymara New Year, takesplace each June 21 (winter solstice) when hundred of traditional priestscongregate to watch the sun rise and celebrate with music, dancing,elaborate rituals and copious quantities of coca and alcohol.
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TiticacaSome 75km northwest of La Paz, LAGO TITICACA, animmense, sapphire-blue lake, easily the largest hight-altitude body of water in the world, sits astride the borderwith Peru at the northern end of the Altiplano. The areaaround the lake is the heartland of the Aymara, whosedistinct language and culture have survived centuries ofdomination, first by the Incas, then by the Spanish.The remains of their shrines and temples can still be seenon the Isla del Sol and the nearby Isla de la Luna, whoseserene beauty is a highlight of any visit to the lake.
CopacabanaThe pleasant town of COPACABANA overlooks the deepblue waters of Lago Titicaca and is the jumping-off point forvisiting Titicaca´s sacred islands. It´s also the mostimportant Catholic pilgrimage site in the country, as hometo Bolivia´s most revered image, pilgrims descend on thecity in early February and early august for the two mainreligious fiestas.
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Isla del Sol
Just off the northern tip of the Copacabanapeninsula about 12km northwest of Copacabana, theIsla del Sol (Island of the Sun) has been attractingpilgrims and visitors for many hundreds of years.now a quiet rural backwater, the island was one ofthe most important religious sites in the Andeanworld in the sixteenth century, revered as the placewhere the sun and the moon were created andwhere the Inca dynasty was born.Scattered with enigmatic ancient ruins andpopulated by traditional Aymara communities, Isladel Sol is an excellent place to spend some timehiking and contemplating the magnificent scenery.Measuring 9.5km long and 6.5km across at its widestpoint, the Isla del Sol is the largest of the forty or soislands in Lago Titicaca.
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Isla de la LunaAbout 8km west of the Isla del Sol, the far smallerIsla de la Luna was another important pre-Columbianreligious site. For much of the twentieth century, theislands were used as a prison for political detainees,yet for the Incas it was a place of great spiritualimportance. Known as Coati (“Queen Island”). It wasassociated with the moon, considered the femalecounterpart of the sun, and a powerful deity in herown right. The main site on the island – and one ofthe best preserved Inca complexes in Bolivia- is atemple on the east coast known as Iñak Uyu, Thecourt of women probably dedicated to the moon andstaffed entirely by women.
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The Southern Altiplano
Potosí and AroundSet on desolate, windswept plain amid barrenmountains at almost 4100 above sea level, POTOSI isthe highest city in the world, and at once the mostfascinating and tragic place in Bolivia. Given itsremote and inhospitality location, it’s difficult to seeat first glance why is ever built here at all. Theanswer lies in Cerro Rico, the conical peak rises theimperiously above the city to the south and was,quite simply, the richest source of silver the worldhave ever seen.
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Salar de UyuniOne of Bolivia´s most extraordinary nary , the Salarde Uyuni, covering some 9000 square kilometers ofthe Altiplano west of Uyuni., is by far the largest saltlake in the world. The Salar is not a lake in the world.The Salar is not a lake in any conventional sense ofthe world-though below the surface is largelysaturated by water, It´s uppermost layer consists of athick, hard crust of salt, easily capable of supportingthe weight of a car. The surface is mostly covered bywater between December and April, but even thenit´s rarely more than a meter deep, and usually muchless Driving a cross the perfectly flat white expanseof the Salar with the unbroken chains of snowcappedmountains lining the far horizon, it’s easy to believeyou are in another planet, so harsh and inhospitableis the terrain.
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