• The Craze for Travelling
  • The Craze for Travelling

The South American Odyssey

Pengembaraan 147hari oleh The Craze for Travelling Baca lagi
  • Monkey business

    28 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    All around us there were monkeys from different species like the Red Howler Monkeys higher up in the canopy, the Squirrel Monkeys and the Cappuchin Monkeys playing on the roofs of the refuge. It was monkey paradise all around but not without the perils that come with the jungle. There were huge Karakaras tgat would swoop down from above the canopy and try and take the monkeys. Sometimes, they even would fly from below the canopy and wait there for the monkeys to lower their guard.
    Luckily, there were no casualties today.
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  • Search called off

    28 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ 🌬 31 °C

    Finally, at roughly around 10:45, we had to give up the search for the Anacondas since it was getting quite hot and not the right time to search for the Anaconda.
    We came back to the camp and had showers to get rid of the heat. After that we had our lunch and relaxed for a few hours.
    We also had a short afternoon rain shower which was a pleasant change from the searing heat of the day.
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  • Tropical thunderstorm

    28 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Soon the dark clouds started rolling in and by about 7 pm, it became very dark and it started pouring like buckets. We were caught at the bar. The heavy rain lasted for about 15-20 minutes but everything was under water by then.
    We started on the way back when there was a break in the rain. We tried to reach back as soon as we could but we were caught in the downpour and were completely drenched by the time we reached back.
    Once back at the camp, I took a shower in the rain. Once the dinner was served, we all sat and had our food. After that we spent some time exchanging stories about Australia, India and Bolivia. It was a fantastic end to a very lovely day.
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  • Pirana Fishing

    29 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    The agenda for the day washing to go Pirana fishing again. We had our breakfast at the camp and left for the fishing by about 9 am. We went on the boat for about 20 min and parked on the riverside for some fishing. We caught a few piranas during the hour we were there. Bismarck also showed us a Knife Fish. Then it was back to the camp for lunch and pack up.Baca lagi

  • Back to Rurrenabaque

    29 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    We had an early lunch at 11 am since we needed to get to the port terminal by 12:30 in order to avoid a penalty. Our lovely group had the last meal together and then we were off back to Rurrenabaque 1st by boat till the terminal and then from there on jeeps on the road.
    We drove 4 hours continuously with only a 10 min break to see a Sloth on one of the trees at the roadside.
    That was the end of one of the most amazing experience I've had in my life.
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  • Off to La Paz

    29 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    At the office of the Escorpion Tours, we exchanged contacts with the members of our group. Then we went to a restaurant nearby to have our dinner. We were back at the office by 6 pm. Alex called me for a tuck tuck to take us to the bus station. We said oir goodbyes to him and then we were off to the station to catch the 18:30 bus to La Paz.
    Normally we've heard that the bus takes about 12-18 hours to reach its destination, lets see when we get there.... 🤔
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  • Relaxed morning in La Paz

    30 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We arrived at La Paz around 8:30 am. From the bus stop, we took a taxi to the apartment where we were to stay. It was a nice big studio apartment with a kitchen and a living room as well.
    We spent the morning repacking our bags, gathering all the clothes for laundry, having a shave after almost a week, a nice good shower and basically just calming down the pace.Baca lagi

  • All Saint's Day preperations

    30 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    In the evening we cooked pasta and finished our conserves we've been carrying since the Salar grocery shopping.
    Then we quickly drew up a plan on what to do next. We went back to the tour agency we had used earlier and booked a tour to Tiwunaku for the next day.
    In the main Cathedral Square, we saw many small kiosks selling sweets in the shapes of dolls, crosses and other offerings. Our guess is that it is due to the All Saint's Day coming up on 2nd November. Unfortunately, we'll be in the Amazonas again by then so we'll miss it. But, for now, all the goodies were irresistible
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  • Tiwanaku Tour

    31 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    Today, we had booked a tour of Tiwanaku area. Tiwanaku (also written as Tiahuanaco or Tiahuanacu) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia. The culture was flourishing around 1000 BC to 700 AD. It seemed to be the most regarded civilization before the Incas. Most probably, the inhabitants of the Uros floating islands in the lake Titicaca are the direct descendents of these people. The Aymaras used to form the lower strata of the society under these people.
    The name by which Tiwanaku was known to its inhabitants may have been lost as they had no written language. The ancient inhabitants of Tiwanaku are believed to have spoken the Puquina language.

    As planned, we were ready in the morning at 8 am and carried our bags over to the Plaza Murillo where we were supposed to be picked up at 8:30 am. The trip cost had been 210 b$ per person and included the 100 b$ charge for the foreign tourists and 35 b$ for the breakfast. We didn't plan to return to La Paz amd instead had planned to take a bus to Copacabana on the way back, so we even had our big bags with us.
    The road was in pretty good condition with not much ascent or descent. Tiwanaku is at 3870 mts above sea level. We reached there around 11 am and visited the museum 1st.
    The museum had all the artifacts that have been found in that area but no photos are allowed inside.
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  • Akapana Pyramid

    31 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    The people of Tiwanaku created 3 main structures, each dedicated to the 3 sacred places they had - sky, earth and the underground.
    For the sky, they created the Akapana Pyramid at an elevated level. There are artefacts of condors and other birds found here.
    For the Earth, they created the Kalasasaya on the ground level. There have been artefacts of puma, jaguar, llamas etc found here.
    For the underground, they created the Semi-subterranean temple. This one is sunken below the ground level and there have been artefacts of snakes, frogs etc found here.

    The Akapana is an approximately cross-shaped pyramidal structure that is 257 m wide, 197 m broad at its maximum, and 16.5 m tall. At its center appears to have been a sunken court.
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  • West wall of Akapana Pyramid

    31 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    On the Western side of the pyramid, parts of the wall has been preserved and shows different levels of sofistication in their making. The lowest level is the most symmetric with every pillar alternating with 7 blocks of stones. The level above had extremely closely matched stones with perfect alignment. The 3rd level is more like piles of stones and is predicted from the later era when they started reusing stones from earlier works.Baca lagi

  • Faces in the Semi-Subterranean Temple

    31 Oktober 2017, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    There are many theories regarding the faces in the wall of the Semi-Subterranean temple. One of them proposes these were faces of the chiefs of the tribes and kept getting replaced when they were removed or died and new ones took their place. Some of them seem to be wearing the ceremonial textile around their heads that used to elongate their skulls so that they look different than normal masses. Typically these elite would also have ears and nose piercings and tattoos all over the back and shoulders.
    Some of the faces, particularly the ones in white are oval with huge eyes and have been the reasons for one of the theories that links these people to ancient aliens.
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