Easter Island Eclipse Trek - Day 2

GATEWAY OF THE SUN

July 5th, 2010
The first day of the tour was pretty grueling. With the flights from L.A. to Miami to Bolivia and then touring all day shortly after arriving, I was up for nearly 36 hours straight. By late afternoon the combination of sleep deprivation and altitude took its toll - I thought I was going to be sick. I had 2 or 3 cups of coca tea to alleviate the affects of altitude. Dinner and a shower did wonders, though the coca tea made me feel twitchy when I crawled into bed.

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. Roommate Jeff loaned me a clean shirt for the day's activities as my luggage (as well as that of about 6 or 7 others) did not arrive in La Paz with us on the 4th. The beds in our hotel room were small, just like the people of Bolivia. I'm 6' tall and Jeff is about 6'2". I don't think the beds were designed with large Westerners in mind. Our "Inca-sized" beds became a running joke for the duration of the trip; even with our heads up against the headboards, our feet still dangled over the ends of the beds. Between that and both of us snoring, it was like something out of a Three Stooges routine.

Breakfast in the hotel restaurant included our choice of toast, fresh fruit, eggs (with or without bacon or ham), mango juice, orange juice, coffee, regular tea, and coca tea. The coffee served in Bolivia is strong, and I mean strong. It's black as pitch, and unlike its North American cousin served in diners, dense enough that light will not pass through it. I've never seen coffee so black! Only a small amount is served, (about 1/2 the size of a shot of espresso), which is in turn thinned with milk or hot water. Even then there is not enough to fill an 8oz coffee cup. From what Ivan our guide told me it's still quite potent after having been diluted.

After breakfast we slathered ourselves with sunblock, donned our broad-brimmed hats**, and grabbed our cameras and daypacks in preparation for a long trip to see the ancient temples of Tiwanaku (pr: TEA-juan-AH-coo). The bus trip took us back through El Alto, but it was a smoother and quicker since it was Monday and there were fewer farmers markets to contend with. Even so it was about a 90 minute ride to the temple complex.

Tiwanaku greeted us with pristine azure skies and a gentle warm breeze. We started our visit there by heading into a museum for a short talk about the history of the region and the temple complex. Another guide joined us for this portion of the trip. Compared to quiet little Ivan, this guy was a talker! Boy could he talk. And talk. Ivan took 5 minutes and gave a good explanation of what we were to see, then his fellow guide jumped in. This guy went on for about 10 to 15 minutes; people got fidgety and started shifting their weight from one foot to the other as they waited to see it all first-hand instead of hearing about it.

After what seemed like forever we stepped back outside and crossed through the barbed-wire fence surrounding the temple complex. At first there wasn't much to see, then Ivan pointed out a low hill nearby, a portion of the complex that for centuries had been mistaken for part of the geography of the region. This was the temple called Akapana, which has barely begun to be excavated.

There wasn't much there in the way of structures. To be certain, these were ancient ruins dating back to AD 500 - 1000. Most of what we saw were block walls that made up the base of what once was. Even so, it was still quite impressive. Compared to some tourist destination like Disneyland, the complex at Tiwanaku is relatively small. What makes it so fascinating (besides the cultural aspect) is the detail of its construction. Using only crude tools, they somehow managed to cut and place stones with extreme precision.

And not only were they skilled builders, they were amazing artisans. Their handiwork was all around us. The first evidence of this we encountered was The Gateway Of The Sun, (aka The Sun Gate) situated in an open temple called Kalasasaya. The exact purpose of the stone archway is not known, though it is believed that part of it represents a calendar. Across its face are 48 carvings of winged figures, some with human faces and some with condor heads. Considering their age and the weathering brought on by such a harsh environment, they have held up well.

We turned our backs on the Sun Gate and moved to the far end of Kalasasaya. There we were met by a large stone sculpture known as "El Fraile" (The Friar). In a vague and creepy way it reminded me of Gort from "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (from the classic 50s version with Michael Rennie). Once again I couldn't help but to be in awe of the skill of the carvers. From a distance the surface of the monolith looks smooth. But with each step closer it became more obvious that it was covered in small detailed carvings from head to toe.

At the end of Kalasasaya furthest from the Sun Gate there are a series of steps carved from a single piece of red stone, leading down to another temple. Spanning the steps is a large stone arch. A string of barbed wire is there to prevent visitors from using the stairs. We used another, less impressive, smaller set of steps on the south side of the temple instead. The temple beside Kalasasaya is interesting because it is sunken in the ground. This was used as part of their worship of the moon.

The walls of this special square pit were lined with ruddy stones. Every few feet small carved heads protruded from the face of the walls. They were all about the same size, though their color was frequently lighter, making them really stand out from their surrounds. If you positioned yourself in the right spot near the center of the pit, Gort was nicely framed in the verbotten arch.

Next stop at the complex was the large hill. Not much is known about it other than that it was designed to collect water in a large pool in its center. Lining the top of the hill around the pool are several large roughly rectangular stones. It has been discovered that they have special qualities that prevent compasses from pointing north. Each stone makes the compass point somewhere else.

After visiting the complex we went to a nearby restaurant. The tour company prepared us box lunches, but worked out a deal in advance with a local restaurant. We were allowed to eat our meal of cold fried chicken in the restaurant. The owners of the establishment did this in the hopes we'd buy drinks there. Everyone was happy to oblige and bought sodas, bottled water (sin gas), and in some cases, beer.

Lunch was followed by a trip to another archaeological site: Puma Punku. It was nowhere near the size of Tiwanaku, but nevertheless it was impressive for the precision of their interlocking stones. When we had our fill of Puma Punku we boarded our bus and were taken back to the museum. It was there that Ivan said something that made my ears prick up. And mine weren't the only ones. I could immediately pick out the science fiction fans in our group. They were the ones with their heads cocked slightly to one side, straining to hear what Ivan was saying. He was pointing to a sort of framed doorway made of stone - this was the Star Gate.

When Ivan said "Star Gate", I felt a tingle go down my spine. Unlike its circular cousins in the TV series and movies of the same name, this one did not have special markings on its surface. Nor did a big glowing swoosh of water erupt from it. Though there was what looked like a DHD sitting nearby as part of the display. Ivan was a little confused at the reaction some of us had over hearing its name mentioned, but then he'd never heard of the movies or shows.

We then moved to another part of the museum that gave the impression of stepping into an indoor amphitheatre. In the center of the dimly lit room was another carved monolith, but this one easily dwarfed The Friar in the Kalasasaya courtyard. It had to be at least 20ft in height. And like The Friar, it has what appear to be two left hands, though no one knows for sure why they were carved in this fashion.

Our group was ushered back to our waiting bus for the ride back to our lakeside hotel. Once we arrived there we had some free time before dinner. I was still feeling a little woozy from the thin air at altitude so I asked for oxygen at the front desk. I took in the allowed 5 minutes worth, which only took the edge off the symptoms.

After dinner we traipsed through the dark to a small thatch-roofed building, not much larger than a two-car garage. Inside were rows of wooden benches. Once we were all situated we were treated to a DVD presentation about astronomy and southern constellations. As the show came to an end, the roof of the building slid out of the way to reveal a night sky dominated by the brilliant trail of the Milky Way.

Outside a few telescopes were set up to let us get closer views of stars, planets, galaxies, and nebulae. The skies were dark and gorgeous, allowing us unparalleled astronomical viewing. That left me with a smile on my face as I crawled into bed.

**We'd been warned beforehand that at extreme altitudes such as we experienced, the UV is quite high and potentially dangerous, hence the excess sun protection.

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