Bolivia - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 171

C F Zuazo 1942 T 02 2441906 and El Alto airport T 7627741,
W economicacarrental.com.
Embassies and consulates Argentina, Aspiazu 497 T 02
2417737, T 02 2422912; Australia, Aspiazu 416 T 02
2115655; Brazil, Edificio Multicentro, Av Arce T 02 2440202;
Canada, Plaza España, at Sanjinez T 02 2415021; Colombia,
C 9, Calacoto 7835 T 02 2784491; Chile, C 14, Calacoto 8024
T 02 2797331; Ecuador, Edificio Hermann, Av 16 de Julio
1440 T 02 2319739; Paraguay, Edificio Illimani, Av 6 de
Agosto T 02 2433176; Peru, Edificio Alianza, Av 6 de Agosto
2190 T 02 2440631; UK, Av Arce 2732 T 02 2433424; USA,
Av Arce 2780 T 02 2168222/8000; Venezuela, Av Arce 2678
T 02 2432023.
Immigration The migración o ce is on Av Camacho
1480, T 02 2110960 (Mon-Fri 8.30am-4pm), for tourist
visa extensions and information.
Internet access The city is crawling with internet cafés,
most charging B$1-3/hr. Many bars and cafés have wi-fi.
Laundry Laverap on C Aroma, at C Llampu; Laundry
Ballivian, C Ballivian 1286 (closed Sun).
Outdoor equipment There are a number of shops around
Sagárnarga selling clothing and equipment for trekking and
climbing. The best option is Tatoo at C Illampu 828 T 02
2451265, W bo.tatoo.ws. Illampu also has lots of outlets
selling fake big-name gear.
Pharmacy There is a 24hr pharmacy next door-but-one
to Cine Teatro Monje Campero on El Prado.
Police Edificio Olimpio, Plaza Tejada Sorzano, opposite the
stadium in Miraflores (daily 24hr; T 02 2225016). This is
the place to report thefts for insurance claims.
Post o ce Correo Central, Av Mariscal Santa Cruz, at
Oruro (Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 9am-
noon).
Shopping With its many markets, La Paz has a wide
range of artesanía (handicrafts) on sale from all over the
country. You'll find dozens of outlets along Sagárnaga and
the surrounding streets selling traditional textiles, leather
items, silver jewellery and talismans. Some of the best -
and most ethical - are Artesanía Sorata on Sagárnaga and
Artesanía Alasita on Murillo. Most fossils sold on this street
are fake.
Telephone centres Punto Cotel on the Prado, opposite
the main post o ce. There are phone booths all over the
city which accept cards that you buy at any kiosk or small
store. Many internet cafés in central La Paz have Skype.

a World Heritage Site by UNESCO
in 2000.
Founded some three millennia ago,
Tiwanaku became the capital of a massive
empire that lasted almost a thousand
years, developing into a sophisticated
urban-ceremonial complex that, at its
peak, was home to some fifty thousand
people. Tiwanaku remains a place of
exceptional symbolic meaning for the
Aymara of the Altiplano, who come here
to make ceremonial offerings to the
achachilas , the gods of the mountains. The
most spectacular of these occasions, the
Aymara New Year , takes place each year at
the June winter solstice, when hundreds
of yatiris (traditional priests) congregate
to watch the sun rise and celebrate with
music, dancing, elaborate rituals and
copious quantities of coca and alcohol.
Though the city of Tiwanaku originally
covered several square kilometres, only
a fraction of the site has been excavated,
and the main ruins (daily 9am-4.30pm;
B$80) occupy a fairly small area that
can easily be visited in half a day. Two
museums by the entrance house many of
the smaller archeological finds, as well as
several large stone monoliths. The main
ruins cover the area that was once the
ceremonial centre of the city, a jumble
of tumbled pyramids and ruined palaces
and temples made from megalithic stone
blocks, many weighing over a hundred
tonnes. It requires a leap of the
imagination to visualize Tiwanaku as
it was at its peak: a thriving city whose
great pyramids and opulent palaces were
painted in bright colours and inlaid with
gold, surrounded by extensive residential
areas built largely from mud brick (of
which little now remains) and set amid
lush green fields, rather than the harsh,
arid landscape you see today.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By bus Local buses (marked “Tiwanaku”) depart from the
cemetery district in La Paz, at the corner of Kollasuyo and
Alquiza (every 45min depending on when buses are full;
1hr 30min; B$15-25 return); on the way back to La Paz,
buses leave from the main square in Tiwanaku. They're
often quite full as they're coming from Desaguadero,
a town bordering Peru, so allow time in the afternoon to
get a seat.

2

TIWANAKU
The most worthwhile attraction within
a few hours of La Paz is the mysterious
ruined city of TIWANAKU (also spelled
Tiahuanaco), set on the Altiplano 71km
to the west. It's Bolivia's most impressive
archeological site, and was declared