We woke up early to drive to Bolivia to see some ruins that are sort of the beginning of the Inca empire. Luis really wanted us to see them. We stopped in Juli on the way to see a beautiful old church.
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| Front of church, Juli |
It's being renovated but it has some great murals and wood work. Also, there are some beautiful paintings.
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| carved window frames |
We continued on to Bolivia. We needed visas, Luis went in on his Peruvian passport, so he was free. The 4 of us needed visas, expensive for one day. We had the real South American run-around...we were sent to many different offices, visas were re-done and spelled correctly. All of this is because Eva Morales, their president hates Americans, so he makes it tough for us to enter. Finally, we were done, or so we thought. We had to get photocopies of our passports-photo page and the stamp of the visa. Where to go? Pues, de frente, nada mas. (Just out front). But, not on Sunday. There was no where to go so Luis had to walk back across the border to Peru to do it. 1.5 hours later, we were in Bolivia!
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| Welcome to Bolivia, but not really!! |
But, we are actually quite happy. We have a 5-year visa and can go back any time!!
Tiahuanaco it the place we headed. We had lunch, more trout, but this time Salmon Trout..it's pink, fresh, but not as good at the regular trout from Taquile Island. This site is pre-Columbian, much older than Inca times and the stone work is very sophisticated. Mysteries abound and no one is completely sure how old they are....very old, definitely BC.
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| Arches and stone work-earlier than Inca times |
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| The gang |
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| Walls of these heads-commemorating leaders |
I have more photos but will add later. An exhausting day, but so interesting and fun, And a little frustrating, thanks to the Bolivians.
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