Tiwanaku ruins for some

Written on 06-07-14 at Copacabana 

We woke up to a bad surprise: Bolivian food does not agree with Capucine's stomach. The poor lamb was stuck in bed and unable to come to see the Tiwanaku ruins with us! 

We left her with a solid stock of crackers and cereal bars in case she felt any better and set off. Our bus trudged slowly and painfully through the city for over and hour. We were starting to get impatient when we noticed that we had come full circle and were back in front of our hotel! After reasoning that we are in Bolivia and such things are to be expected we sat back for another two hours until we finally made it to Tiwanaku (well not without a roadside stop so the driver could fiddle around with the engine while our guide attempted to distract us with historical facts). 

We both felt signficantly smarter (and you might too in a minute!) once we had understood exactly how the Tiwanaku, Maya, Inca and Azteque civilisations fit together. It turns out that the Tiwanaku and Mayas lived more or less at the same time (from approximately 1500 B.C. To 1300 A.C.) in South and Central America respectively. Then they disappeared without real explanation and were gradually replaced by the Incas and Azteques who only actually lived for under 200 years! It seems crazy that we talk about them so much more. Most of the group had never heard of the Tiwanaku before. This can be mostly explained by the fact that we know hardly anything about them as all of their ruins where destroyed by the Spanish invaders (but our guide was quick to specify that there are no hard feelings). 

The site in itself leaves much to be desired as, consequently, there was not much to see. But the history was captivating and our guide was entertainment in herself with her directly translated expressions such as "my friend" and "now you must pay attention please". 

Before heading back to the city we had a traditional Bolivian lunch with quinoa soup and lama steak while chatting with other French travellers! Unfortunately, Cécile was rapidly hit with the same ailment as Capucine so Francois left them both miserable in bed and headed out for his own Bolivian adventure.

Après avoir marché une bonne demi heure pour trouver une Pena (spectacle local), sans succès, je suis passé devant un bar/restaurant peuplé d'étrangers, l'ambiance semblait au rendez vous, je suis donc rentré. Le serveur était hollandais, j'en ai donc profité pour commander un menu full bolivien en utilisant les quelques reliquats de néerlandais qu'il me reste !  ... Le tout, avec mojito bolivien .... La menthe est remplacée par de la coca, ce qui n'était pas sans me déplaire !  

Après cet agréable soirée gustative, je suis rentré retrouver mes patientes!  

 

Cécile et Francois