Today I took a boat to the famous island of the sun. The island is supposed to be the place where the first inca man and his wife appeared, coming straight from the sun. The same place is also the source of the Aymara and Quechua (both local indigenous tribes) creation myths - only that in their case, a god sent the first two people.
The island is rather big: the walk across from the southern to the northern end is about 8 km long. Between the boat's arrival and departure times, there is just enough time to complete the walk, and so that's what I did.
The walk started at the Museo de Oro - the gold museum. The name was rather misleading though, as there wasn't a single exhibit made from gold, but only ceramics. Right next to the museum, this wonderful beach made up for the disappointing museum:
Uphill from the southern shore are the main inca ruins on the island. I thought the ruins weren't all that spectacular. One part was a stone slab with some smaller stones around, thought to be a ritual (i.e. sacrificial) table:
Another part were some ruins looking like housing remains, called Chincana:
And, of course, there were the sacred stones where supposedly the first inca appeared. I don't think they could have found any more boring stones for their creation myth...
The high path connecting north and south through the island's hills seems to have been important to the inca, too, because its name is Willka Thaki - sacred road of the eternity of the sun.
The views along the path were splendid, with hills and lake Titicaca in the foreground, and snow-capped mountains in the far back:
Throughout the island, the local communities use as much of the terrain as possible for agriculture. To maximize the available space, the ground is shaped into terraces. Apparently, these terraces date back at least 500 years, to times before the Spanish discovered America.
The island is rather big: the walk across from the southern to the northern end is about 8 km long. Between the boat's arrival and departure times, there is just enough time to complete the walk, and so that's what I did.
The walk started at the Museo de Oro - the gold museum. The name was rather misleading though, as there wasn't a single exhibit made from gold, but only ceramics. Right next to the museum, this wonderful beach made up for the disappointing museum:
Uphill from the southern shore are the main inca ruins on the island. I thought the ruins weren't all that spectacular. One part was a stone slab with some smaller stones around, thought to be a ritual (i.e. sacrificial) table:
Another part were some ruins looking like housing remains, called Chincana:
And, of course, there were the sacred stones where supposedly the first inca appeared. I don't think they could have found any more boring stones for their creation myth...
The high path connecting north and south through the island's hills seems to have been important to the inca, too, because its name is Willka Thaki - sacred road of the eternity of the sun.
The views along the path were splendid, with hills and lake Titicaca in the foreground, and snow-capped mountains in the far back:
Throughout the island, the local communities use as much of the terrain as possible for agriculture. To maximize the available space, the ground is shaped into terraces. Apparently, these terraces date back at least 500 years, to times before the Spanish discovered America.
