Day 81 - Tiwanaku (continued)

Sunday, 2 November 2014

Perhaps the most important structure in the ruins is the Gateway of the Sun, with the God Wirakocha's face in the middle of the gate. In 1445, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (the 9th Inca)  began conquest of the Titicaca regions. He incorporated and developed what was left from the Tiwanaku patterns of culture. So, the last traces of the Tiwanaku civilization were integrated or abandoned.

There was already a storm threatening to brew, I could hear thunder all morning. And then it hit us. Except that it was not a rainstorm, it was a hailstorm! It was so cold, and the hail was hitting against my face with such force, it was not funny at all. So we had to stop the tour at the archaeological site and have an early lunch.

After lunch we went to another ruin, Pumapunku which means Door of the Puma, where there is a Temple of the Moon. Here we saw the same type of advanced architecture as seen at the Temple of the Sun, the fusion of rocks using metal, either in solid or liquid form. The heaviest stone found in Pumapunku weighs about 132 tonnes, and it is another mystery as to how the ancient people moved this stone from the quarry about 10 km away. 

We also saw 'H' shaped blocks, according to the guide the Tiwanaku people also built the temple with these blocks, one on top of the other, like Lego. The Rock is very precisely cut, and very smooth to the touch (I felt it) and another mystery is how the ancient people cut the rocks so precisely solely with ancient techniques. According to the guide, a man from the Discovery Channel made a documentary about this and came up with the theory that the ancient people used laser. Laser! In the year 400! I don't think so. But I don't have an alternative explanation either. 

The guide also told us something that was very interesting to me. The ancient people believed in dimensions; that is why there are many gateways and doorways, they believed when you enter these gateways and doorways you are entering into a different dimension (mentally and spiritually, of course). So the ancient people believed that 3 sacred animals held the secrets to 3 different aspects - the condor who had the secrets of the sky, the snake who had the secrets of the earth, and the puma who had the secrets of the 4 dimensions. And the 4th dimension is capable of being reached by every human being here on earth if one uses all 5 senses simultaneously.

This is very interesting to me because in Hinduism and Buddhism we believe that meditation can lead you to a higher state of being, almost like being in a different dimension, but you are still in this plain. I wonder if they are all talking about one and the same thing here, but in different parables.

The tour ended at approximately 4 pm, and I reached my hostel at about 4.30 pm. Here I had a quick shower and packed my essential stuff for the one day trip to Salar de Uyuni tomorrow. To go to the Salar, I have to take a bus which is a 12 hour journey one way to Uyuni. At about 6.30 pm I arrived at the bus station to take the 7 pm bus to Uyuni.