For this tour you get picked up at around 7.30 am from your accommodation and taken to an office in southern La Paz where you will meet with the guide and try on all your riding gear and test your motorcycle. Once you are ready, you will set off on an approximately 2-hour-ride up to the city of El Alto and then through the flat and dry Bolivian altiplano and the stunning landscape around (about 70 km total distance).
Tiwanaku (also spelt Tiahuanaco and Tiahuanacu) was founded around 200 BC and after many years it grew from a small village to much larger city with population estimated anywhere between 200,000 to 1.4 million inhabitants in the period around 600 to 800 AD. At its peak Tiwanaku was the most important city and civilization center in the whole of continent and its influence can be seen in vast areas of modern day Bolivia, Peru and Argentina. It is believed that the people of the city of Tiwanaku where more advanced in pottery, astronomy and math than the Incas whom they predated.
A visit to the site of Tiwanaku takes a couple of hours and some of the areas you will visit and learn about include:
- Puerta del Sol – The Gateway of the Sun
- Kalasasaya – 130m x 120m ritual platform with impressive steps
- Templete Semi-Subterraneo – 26m x 28m sunken pit with 178 carved stone faces
- 2 museums at the site
Tiwanaku is one of the most important ancient civilizations in the world and more is being learnt about it every day. For anyone with an interest in the history of Andean cultures and archaeology it is a worth while day trip from La Paz. Return to La Paz will be at around 17.30/18.00.
