Some places simply capture your heart and fill you with wonder. Lake Titicaca and Tiwanaku, only 50km away from one another, captivated me and were the cherry on top for our visit in Bolivia.
Lago Titicaca, in the Aymara language Titi= Puma and Caca=Rock, truly took me by surprise and captured my heart and tapped into my soul. It’s bigger than the USA’s Lake Tahoe and about half the size of state of Connecticut. It’s huge and really high, at 12,500 feet (3,800 meters). It is the largest (3,232 sq mi) high elevation (12,507 ft) lake in the world.
Tiwanaku, Tiahuanaco, or Tiahuanacu is one of Bolivia’s UNESCO sites and it was the first archaeological site to truly captivate my interest. People talk about the Incas in Peru. Sure, they were great, powerful, wide ranging, and we know a lot about them because the Spanish wrote a few things down before taking over. But do you ever hear about the Tiwanaku? That’s right, because not much is known about them. Few artifacts remain at the temple sites, but the huge sacred monoliths are so beautifully carved, you wonder-Why isn’t anyone talking about these guys???
I’m just going to come out and admit it, I’m an archaeology enthusiast. I don’t have the ability to quickly recall historical dates and names, but I am fascinated with visiting ruins and imagining what life was like for our predecessors.
Gateway of the Sun
The gateway is not in its original position (though it stands where it was found) and when you come to it, it seems a little underwhelming. Then you start to really look at the lintel and appreciate the craftsmanship that went into the carving of it. The lintel sports a central carving of (most likely) Viracocha, the main god of the Andean religions. He was the god who created the universe, taught man how to do things and also caused the great flood. He wears the sun as a crown and his tears are the rain. The diminutive, yet intriguing, enigmatic figure holds serpents that represent thunderbolts. Surrounding him are winged figures. 32 human headed and 16 condor-headed effigies cast their gaze toward the central figure. The gate is a masterpiece and shows the highly developed level of craftsmanship evident at Tiwanaku in its heyday. (source: https://thetempletrail.com/tiwanaku/)
We spent a beautiful sunny day walking around the ruins. The size of the temples and carved black rock sculptures really got me thinking. In some ways it seems humankind has greatly regressed. Few people are “crafty” these days. Sitting down at a sewing machine is hard enough, how many people do you know that can carve rock into beautifully smooth shapes or into intricate curvy line designs?
Little is known about Tiwanaku, believed to have been at its height between 300 BC and 300 AD. The site was a “moral and cosmological center” for the Tiwanaku culture (300-1500). Believed to be a center of pilgrimage and trading rather than a military control center, up to 15,000 people may have lived there at the empire’s peak. Scavenged for its ashlar blocks for subsequent buildings and railways, not much is left behind today.
Perhaps this site fascinated me because I was already enamored with Bolivia’s present day culture. Knowing that nearby Lake Titicaca was a huge spiritual center for Incas and the pre-Incan Tiwanaku people I felt there was so much to discover and learn about this place. Whether the Bolivian government manages to allocate the funds or a foreign university team comes in to learn more about these ruins, I’m excited to hear about it.
Our first impressions of Lake Titicaca.
Since this lake is huge, it would actually be awhile before we would come into the town of Copacabana, the gateway to the infamous Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna. Famed for their spiritual significance these islands are beautiful hilly outcrops in the middle of the lake. Along the way we began to see many tortura reed creations. We also had to make a dicey ferry crossing to make it to the city…
Regional Government, The Women, Yes We Can 2018
Upon arrival into the town of Copacabana there was one thing I needed to do. Get Lola blessed. This was a really big deal for me because she is our life. We may not take tons of pictures of Lola, but she is the reason we can go on in this journey. She is our home, our shelter, our protection, she is our everything.
Copacabana itself is a nice little town. There is always something to see with so many tourists around and the beautiful waterfront is a great place to hang out to see all the boats coming in and going out. When I first drafted this post, we were on the lake shore looking out at the clear blue water. With the islands of Amaranti and Ticonata in the distance, we were listening to Aymara singing with pan pipes and drums beating for accompaniment. I realized then that the people here are living mostly modern lives, but they continue to practice their ancestral culture. This is one of the things that makes this journey so valuable. We’re out of our comfort zones in many ways, but we have the incredible fortune to experience what everyday life is like. You can’t read that in a book.
In Copacabana, Bolivia we spent a day going out to Isla de la Luna and Isla de la Sol. I enjoyed the boat ride out to see the islands, they were totally different than what I expected! I thought we would be visiting barren islands with a couple of piles of rocks….
Once we were done visiting the south side of the Lake, we had to drive along the western border and cross into Peru. Thankfully our border crossing was very smooth and we were done within an hour. Our goal was to find a campsite near the city of Puno, is where the Uros Islands are. We ended up camping at a church parking lot along the shoreline. Beautiful scenery all along the way.
When I first researched Lago Titicaca I learned that there are a lot of commercial tours that offer Incan and indigenous Aymara history via a boat trip to the Uros Islands. This is an immediate turn off for me because we see tourist traps everywhere we go. What I didn’t realize about Lake Titicaca is that there is also a lot of open space one can freely go and a lot of remote shoreline you can explore. After learning about the historical context (yes we ended up taking a boat tour and I loving it) it allowed me to try and picture what life looked like in and around this lake 500 years ago.
In Puno, Peru we arranged for a personal tour with one of the Uros families, Roger and Nancy. We learned about the construction of the islands and daily life for those who may still be living there permanently (most people live in the city and make the 20 min commute from the mainland to benefit from the tourism opportunities).
The islands are made of tortura grass reed. It is a solid grass with a triangular cross-section. Previously the Uros people bundled the reeds together to build the islands and/or lived where the established grass created islands that were dry for a portion of the year. Nowadays they cut large mats of grass, root and all, from the lake. It’s like cutting sod out of your lawn. These floating mats are tied together and the tortura reed is laid on top in alternating 2 inch layers, several meters thick.
Additional layers of grass are added as needed. In the rainy season (November to May) the lake level rises bring the islands with them. In the dry season (May to October) the islands may settle onto the lake bottom of the lake. Roger’s island had 15 root mats that were held together by eucalyptus stakes and nylon rope. Previously a braided grass/hay rope was used to hold the stakes together, but it needed replacement frequently. The islands have a life span of 25-30 years after which they need to be reconstructed.
There are many different house styles people build, but what impressed me most were the school islands! Kids go to school on floating islands! Although the class rooms are built using modern techniques.
The Uros People also construct elaborate Viking-style boats for daily transport. Two pontoons approximately 2-3 ft in diameter are bound together to make a “taxi” boat, which can transport 2 people at a time. Larger crafts are made by tying together these “taxis” and building wooden platforms or benches for sitting. Frequently there are 2 fierce looking puma mastheads at the front of each of these boats. The crafts were originally maneuvered by long wooden paddles, but we saw several being pushed around with small motorized fishing boats (there’s that modern adaptation).
Lastly, Tortura grass can also be used for nutrition. Young shoots have a thick white stem that is sweet, treated as a fruit. Today people buy staples, fruit, and vegetables from Puno to supplement their diet. There are 6 types of fish in the lake. Two non-native (trout and kingfish) and 4 smaller native varieties, which are the main staple of their diet. Previously the 5 duck species were also part of their diet, but this has now been changed in order to preserve the species.
After learning about all the historical tidbits from the descendants of the Uros, we drove a bit further north and found a beautiful relaxing spot along the northern lakeshore of Capachica. The weather was warmish but the sun was strong so we pulled out our kayak and went for a peaceful paddle.
A gorgeous paddle amongst the tortura.
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We drove around Lago Titicaca (crossing the Bolivian border into Peru) from September 28th to October 6th, 2017.
In response to your comment about “few people are crafty” in our society: Probably most of the people then weren’t skilled stone carvers either. Think about the social structure that was needed: The people carving couldn’t be out cultivating food at the same time. The others valued their work enough to feed them. Plus the apprentices had to be fed while they practiced even though their work probably wasn’t very useful. And making food was easy enough in that place that there was extra to afford people carving stone etc. If you don’t think that level of craftsmanship survives in our culture, talk to a bunch of glassblowers or custom furniture makers or yes, there is even a local stone sculptors’ group. It’s just that the churches and government buildings are no longer the sole focus of such work and community resources so it’s harder to see. In fact religious and governmental projects these days are often so low budget they can’t afford anything but basic architecture (currently it’s not as easy as it was in earlier times to promise heaven or pass sumptuary laws to get a bigger share of the pie). Look at some of the fancywork that goes into modern corporate buildings if you ever get a chance. The Sunday Times of 4/1/18 has a really nice article on Glassworks (http://glassworksinc.com/) and some of their architectural projects which gives a peek.
Yes, our society has become less spiritual and more materialistic. If you want to see expensive, pretentious architecture, look at the bank buildings!
The thing that impressed me about France was all the steeples on the skyline, reaching up to the Divine. Every town seemed to have a cathedral or at least an impressive church. When you drive into a US city, the thing you notice are the bank towers, dwarfing everything around them, and loudly proclaiming that it’s money, not love that makes the world go round.
Thanks for sharing your comments about craftiness. You’re absolutely right, there are lots of talented tradeswomen and tradesmen out there today. The elite or rich support the fine arts and it’s great when they choose to display it or share it with the common folk. There are definitely lots of artists in our society, but few are lucky enough to make a career out of it and have an opportunity to display it for all to see, especially in impoverished areas.
In my short life I think I’ve been surrounded by people who are “living to work” and thus they don’t have much time to develop these skills. Visiting Tihuanacu reinforced that there have always been fine tradespeople somewhere in the society, but as you say, it was the job of a section of society.
Why doesn’t it surprise me that the basilica was built on an important Incan ruin. Many of the cathedrals in Europe were also built over important pagan ruins. The Catholics knew power spots when they saw them!
I loved your pics of the reed islands–what an amazingly rational way to deal with fluctuating water levels! Since the tortura reeds have a triangular cross section, that makes them sedges. My taxonomy TA taught us the following mnemonic about grass-like plant cross sections: “Sedges have edges, and rushes are round, and grasses, like asses, have holes.”
Thank you for a wonderful post! It’s so full of amazing images and information.
I have a suggestion.
You might consider posting in smaller pieces–like just the part about getting Lola blessed, and the part about Tiwanaku, and the part about the basilica in Copacabana, the part about the reed islands, etc, etc., and posting more often. They could all be posted under the title of Lake Titicaca, and, of course you would tag them as Lake Titicaca as well.
Thanks for the suggestion. I know these posts are too long…I feel the pain when I write them. Our struggle comes with the limited wifi connection. When we have it we have to try to upload as much content as we can. I’m going to give splitting up the posts a try on our posts in Ecuador. We’ll see how it goes!
As for architecture and where we put our money as a society, you make a good point. It’s very strange that the bank buildings and important offices tend to be more ornate or more prevalent than places of worship.
I read that the Uros were forced to take up residence on the floating islands when the Incas expanded onto their land. It’s remarkable that this lifestyle continues. I hope that tourism’s influences don’t diminish this valuable culture and tradition.
Yes, that’s correct. The Uros were forced to create these islands because they were escaping persecution. Bolivia seemed such a special place to us because their traditions are so alive. The Uros have more of a presence on the mainland now, which is a good thing because of the wet and cold conditions on their floating islands…but I think they see the value of continuing to share their history.