Chile

I had 4 days in Santiago, (Chile) over new year. They were an odd 4 days and I didn't do terribly much exploring of Santiago, just a bit of wandering about. I guess as it wasn't an organised tour and I hadn't done lots of research on places to go and things to see, I just wandered.

New Years Eve itself I just slept. I've never been a big fan of New Years, I just can't seem to get excited about the date changing. It changes every night! Also I'd just done 3 weeks in Peru and was a bit tired. I apparently missed a really good fireworks display.

I did go up the funicular to Cerro San Cristobal for some nice views over the city and to visit 'Our Lady of the Ariels' (way to ruin the looks of a posh statue with infrastructure guys!)

Impressive view from the top with even more of the Andes (I think) in the background. That's one heck of a mountain range!

I did take a day trip/organised tour to Valparaiso, a coastal town renowned for it's bohemian atmosphere and street art. It turned out I was the only person on the trip, so Macarena and I had a nice quite time. Yes, that was her name. No, she hates the song.

There are loads of murals all over the city. I won't bore you with all of the pics, just a select few.  If you want to see them all, have a look at this album. The overall feeling is rather summed up by this painted step.

Back in Santiago, I ended up spending a day at the zoo to pass the time. Got a few nice photos too, but after having seen so many creatures out in the wild I was a bit torn between happy at getting to see them, and the mildly horrific reality of them being locked up in cages.  If you want them, additional photos here.

Like a swan, above is serene..

... below is ... stripey madness!

Mums everywhere seem to have the same problem.
This child comes with built in reins.

This little bugger looked so sad.

This one was not pleased at being photographed

This one was just having a snooze.

There was 'proper' wildlife in the city too, in the various parks. I shall leave these as an exercise for Dad to identify.

La Paz and Tiwanaku

From Titicaca/Puno, it was another all day bus ride across the border into Bolivia and it's capital, La Paz. The border crossing was incredibly slow and boring. First we sat on the bus for an hour or so, then we stood in a queue for an hour or so. There weren't even that many people going through, it was just slow.

At around 3600 meters, La Paz is the highest capital in the world. It sits in a steep sided river valley in a high plain not far from the Andes, which you can see from the city. The city has a network of cablecars for public transport and they do a fantastic job. Cheap, fast and they ignore the problems posed by both the steep terrain and the traffic. I guess they are also a lot easier to install than trainlines would be as they only need a house sized plot of land every few hundred meters for the pylons - all in all a great solution for adding mass public transport to a city in such a steep and densely populated area. They also provide a spectacular view for the passengers.

I took a trip around the city on them, including going up to El Alto, a new city that is growing quickly on the plain above the city, where you can see the Andes and look down on La Paz.


Other interesting stuff from La Paz:

'Sweets' to be offered to the pachamamma. made with sugar and glue (not edible) these offerings were available all over the place. Want a car? Offer a sugar one to the pachamamma. Want a man? Offer a sugar one to the pachamama. In 'witch street' there were also all sorts of potions and charms and curses available for sale.

I don't remember what this 'traditional' dish was called, but it was darn tasty!

 Yes, yes there is a moose in the nativity scene.

Second day there I took a trip to Tiwanaku. Yes, I know, you've never heard of it, but it should be more famous than the Inca and Machu Picchu. It is a city and civilization of impressive scale and skill. Both were around for an awful lot longer than the Inca, from around 100 AD and around for over a thousand years. The city sat on the shores of Titicaca, though now it is many miles from the lake. It is suggested that drought, famine and flood were to blame for the city's abandonment, and there is a theory that refugees from Tiwanaku formed many of the later civilizations and tribes in the area, including possibly being the origin of the Inca (which fits chronologically and mythologicaly as the Inca claimed their founders came from Titicaca).

Artists impression of some of the main temples

On the chronology bar, the Inca are the
tiny blue bit just before Epoca Actual

The Tiwanaku were very into their stone carving and a lot of them still survive today. The museum was very good at showing the progression in style and skill used.

Early Llama

Single piece doorway

This one (Pachamama/Earth Mother) is 24 feet tall

As well as the 'standard' massive pyramid type temples, Tiwanaku also has a partially underground temple. The walls of this temple have many carved stone heads of all sorts of different designs and styles. They don't know for certain what the purpose of the different styles, but some have suggested that they are representing stereotypes of different cultures and even foreigners that the Tiwanaku had encountered, bringing them all together in one place.

Alien? or white man?

There are also various very impressive gateways in the complex. This first one does of course let the equinox dawn light shine directly on the main alter inside, with other important times marked on the back wall of the temple with massive standing stones - basically a huge calendar.

This one is the 'Gate of the Sun' (not to be confused with the 'Sun Gate' at Macchu Picchu) and it has very intricate carvings across the top which represent err...um... it's been nearly 3 months since I was there and now I've forgotten.  Damn-it - this is why I shouldn't have let myself get behind. Oh well, off to wikipedia to find out. Turns out Wikipedia isn't sure.

More of the large statues are scattered around the site, mostly representing deities rather than kings (if I remember correctly).

There are also repeated use of the 3 levels of the Andean Cross  iconography that is common to many of the south american cultures. There is 'heaven' (condors), 'earth' (puma) and 'underworld' (snake for the Inca usage, but Tiwanaku used the fish instead, possibly because of the proximity of Titicaca)

I'm kicking myself again because I've forgotten the details - I took this photo because it looked like it was machine made. The recess is really sharp, and the holes drilled in the stone are, even by modern standards, extremely evenly placed.

The tour was made even more fun as we were on it with a lovely Bolivian family, all of whom spoke excellent English. Grandmother (front and center) was great fun, and the grand daughters found it hilarious at lunchtime when I told grandmother that if she didn't finish her vegetables she wouldn't get any pudding!

And of course, some wildlife!  

Looked very similar to a Scottish thistle

Some bird - I've kinda given up trying to ID them!

Mildly pretty moss/flowers.