Day 17: Tiwanaku, Bolivia

When I wandered around the Witches' Market yesterday, I went to a travel agency and joined a tour of Tiwanaku for today. The small tourist bus came to pick me up at my hostel. Because I was the second last person they picked up, I had to sit in the back again. The bus slowly ascended up hill. Unlike Hong Kong, in La Paz, wealthy people live downhill while poor people live on the hill. Therefore, the street scenes seemed to be completely different when we reached to the peak. It was busier with more people and more traffics on the road. I got a chance to witness the legendary 'police disguised in zebra costume', who was actually the traffic commander. It was a pity I did not take the photo......

Tiwanaku ruins

It took almost 2 hours to get to Tiwanaku. Firstly, we visited the museum. Then we climbed on the hills to listen to the guide's explanations. This Inca ruin did not get complete reserved, and we needed our imagination to place the temples and gates back on the remaining rocks. It sounded very familiar, just like the ruins in Greece and Rome. Moreover, the weather was so freaky that it made me want to leave earlier. Whereas the tour included lunch and we had to finish it before we could actually leave.

Stone sculptures

Tiwanaku ruins

This is also a retiring tour with a lot of old people. Except one Argentinian guy, his name is Javier. His hair is in dreadlocks and his outfit can not be more local that he wears the alpaca made poncho and pants. Also, he can speak a bit of English. He told us that he had been traveling around Argentina for few years already. He is originated from Buenos Aires, but never goes back home since he has left. He will continue his adventure to the north (Peru). I immediately wondered, 'how many years would he spend there again?' Anyways, he is a very special person, as he is the first hippie I have ever met in my life.

Again, I could not help but slept through the whole inbound bus ride. The bus dropped us off in the Witches' Market, so I had to keep my crazy shopping going. Because of the lower living standard here, it is way cheaper to buy souvenirs in Bolivia than in Peru, and I ended up indulging myself in the shopping vibe till the sky turned dark.

In fact, various witch crafts can easily be found in the Witches' Market. The most popular one is llama fetuses, which nearly can be seen everywhere in the market. Many of the Bolivian believe the fetuses can bring them good luck. Besides, I also saw some small colorful oil containers. I asked the store owner and she told me that these containers could bless people with good health, wealth and relationships, etc. Nonetheless, they do look a suspiciously spooky and I even got goosebumps just by looking at them.