Global Travel Writers: Articles http://www.globaltravelwriters.com/ Global Travel Writers en Global Travel Writers: Articles http://www.globaltravelwriters.com/EXT:tt_news/ext_icon.gif http://www.globaltravelwriters.com/ Global Travel Writers TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:51:00 -0400 Tiwanaku: Bolivian roots http://www.globaltravelwriters.com/articles/category/bolivia/article/tiwanaku-bolivian-roots/ The ruins of the great pre-Inca city of Tiwanaku display a genius that seems to carry through into... The zenith of Aymara civilisation was reached over a thousand years ago, as epitomised by the ruins of the great pre-Inca city of Tiwanaku. Tiwanaku is a unique record of Aymara culture, the product of a people who had a unique understanding of the relationship between the spiritual and the natural world.

The Tiwanaku empire reached its peak about 1,300 years ago, long before the Incas had even been heard of. Today, however, the main temple of Tiwanaku lies in ruins, its stones carted off to construct the great cathedrals, and its gold treasures consigned to museums and to the coffers of the Emperor of Spain. What is left of the Temple today gives a mere hint of its former glory. 

The original name of Tiwanaku was Taypi Kala, “the stone at the centre (of the world)”. One of the main set of figures in the Kalasasaya (the “inner sanctum” of Tiwanaku ) was a group of Yaya-Mama statues, each with the features of a woman on one side and a man on the other side. These are said by local shamans (native soothsayers/healers) to illustrate the relationship between Lady Earth and Lord Sky, which are linked by double-headed serpents known as “rainbow rivers”, an echo of the “rainbow serpent” of Australian Aboriginal mythology.

]]> Graham Simmons Bolivia Destination Travel By: Graham Simmons Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:49:00 -0500 Potions and Spells http://www.globaltravelwriters.com/articles/category/bolivia/article/potions-and-spells/ Want a love potion to make that special person find you irresistable? It's here in the... Want a love potion to make that special person find you irresistable? Or an amulet to ward off danger, or another for material success? Or a cure for any disease including those as-yet unknown? They're all here in the Witch-doctors' Market, in the Bolivian capital of La Paz

]]> Authors Bolivia Destination Travel By: Graham Simmons Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:41:00 -0500 Not much beach at Copacabana http://www.globaltravelwriters.com/articles/category/bolivia/article/not-much-beach-at-copacabana/ The beach at Bolivia's Copacabana is a far cry from its Brazilian namesake The beach-front at Copacabana is narrow and grassy. A merry-go-round cavorts by the shore, where a few fishing boats lie at rest. Go in the water, and chances are you won't last more than thirty seconds befor the cold drives you out again.

Doesn't sound like Copacabana? Sorry, this is Copacabana, Bolivia, not Brazil. This "other" or the "real" Copacabana lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca, over 3,800 metres (12,000 feet) above sea level.

]]> Graham Simmons Bolivia Destination Travel By: Graham Simmons Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:38:00 -0500