Tihuanaco

Bolivian New Year is a magical affair. Tihuanaco may be a shadow of its former glory-railway workers stole many of the ancient Inca blocks in the 20th century-but its spiritual appeal has not yet wained. It was built as an Andean temple to the sun and on June 21st, it is considered good luck to climb to the summit and witness the first post-solstice rays. With the help of a few drinks (including a lot of sugary coffee) we camped out in Cerro de Llloco-Lloco and waited 11 hours in the bitter cold to gain access to la Puerta del Sol. This llama was staring at us mockingly:

Although we were two hours early, the queues were insane and we had to queue-jump our way into Kalasasaya, where the New Year's ceremony would begin.

The beat of drums and an unknown wind instrument accompanied the drone of an Aymaran priest. We could barely see at first because it was still dark and there was smoke everywhere.

This uncertaintainty hardly added to the mystique; we were freezing, tired and impatient so although ten of us made the Tihuanaco journey, only three of us stayed up to see the show!

Finally, the first rays of sun appeared. Everyone raised their hands to the light and we reached up high to warm our numb fingers.

Meanwhile, the Aymaran priest set some llama foetuses alight whilst chewing coca leaves and chanting. I have no idea what that symbolizes and the thousands of surrounding Bolivians were too inebriated to enlighten me.

There was a bottleneck going out of Kalasasaya and everyone was shouting because a few people were still trying to push their way in; despite the fact they had missed everything.

Going back to the hostel, me and Naomi counted our blessings as we walked into the horizon.