Bolivia, proud and intense
The prehistoric city of Tiwanaku is located on the southern shore of the famous Lake Titicaca along the border between Bolivia and Peru. Even after its abandonment, Tiwanaku continued to be an important religious site for the local people. It later became incorporated into Inka mythology as the birthplace of mankind as the Inka built their own structures alongside the ruins. Tiwanaku remains an integral locale in the religious lives of Andean people in the turbulent present of modern Bolivia.
Bolivia's Yungas Road is officially the "world's most dangerous road", christened so by the Inter-American Development Bank in 1995. Local people call it "the road of death" and pray before using it, and the nearest hospital is a two-hour drive away. The danger of the road ironically though has made it a popular tourist destination: mountain biker enthusiasts, in particular, have made it a favorite destination for downhill biking.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
In Bolivia, the cities of Oruro, Santa Cruz, Tarija and La Paz celebrate Carnival during the eight days preceding Ash Wednesday. Locals wear heavy masks with horns and bulging eyes, fangs, long, sparkling breastplates, silk embroidered shawls, golden spurs, and flowers. This mystifying image depicts La Diablada, typical mask of the city of Oruro.
Reed boat manufacturing in the Titicaca region includes gathering and joining bundles of totora reeds and fastening them with rope. The reed bundles are connected with more rope to build the spine of the boat. Finally the row of bundles are pounded into a crescent shape. The raft's porous nature filters out water from the waves kicked up by the high winds of the Altiplano.
Mt. Illampu (20,867 feet) and Mt. Ancohuma (20,957 feet) are part of the same massif of peaks permanently covered in snow called the "Cordillera Real", and are favored destinations of technical climbers and extreme skiers as well as native peoples in their rituals of communion with nature spirits and the weather gods.
Bolivia's Yungas Road is officially the "world's most dangerous road", christened so by the Inter-American Development Bank in 1995. Local people call it "the road of death" and pray before using it, and the nearest hospital is a two-hour drive away. The danger of the road ironically though has made it a popular tourist destination: mountain biker enthusiasts, in particular, have made it a favorite destination for downhill biking.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
To visitors to Lake Titicaca, a boat trip to the floating islands is a must. These islands are made and re-made from the totora reeds which provide home, sustenance and transportation for their residents. The islands are maintained by adding fresh reeds to the surface even as the ones on the bottom decompose.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
The "charango" is a diminutive high-pitched ten-string instrument played throughout the Andean region, the product of indigenous craftsmen inspired by the Spanish Guitar and the Vihuela. The face and neck look like a miniature toy guitar, and the soundbox consists of a carved wooden shell or the dried skin of lizards or armadillos. It is most often played by rapidly fanning or plucking the strings.
The Moon Island in Lake Titicaca was a Tiahuanaco civilization temple meant to be a moon observation center, tracking its cycles and movements during the months of the year. It is believed that these ruins of Inak Uyu (Palace or Temple of the Moon) were a "Ajlla Huasi", a sacred place where the virgins of the sun (nustas) were chosen.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.
The Iglesia de San Francisco in La Paz is notable for its intricately carved façade, richly decorated with indigenous symbols such as masked figures, snakes, dragons and tropical birds. It is one the finest examples of baroque-mestizo architecture in the Americas. Construction on the original San Francisco Church started in 1548. It collapsed under the weight of snow in 1610 and was reconstructed in 1784.
In Bolivia, the cities of Oruro, Santa Cruz, Tarija and La Paz celebrate Carnival during the eight days preceding Ash Wednesday. It takes place for the eight days preceeding Ash Wednesday. Locals wear heavy masks with horns and bulging eyes, fangs, long, sparkling breastplates, silk embroidered shawls, golden spurs, and flowers.
The city of Copacabana is famous for the miracles of the patron saint of Bolivia, the Dark Virgin of the Lake. The miracles began in the 16th century after the village became home to an image of the Virgen de Candelaria. Another image of the Virgin was taken to Brazil in the 1800's and established in what is now a very well known beach of the same name.
The prehistoric city of Tiwanaku is located on the southern shore of the famous Lake Titicaca along the border between Bolivia and Peru. Even after its abandonment, Tiwanaku continued to be an important religious site for the local people. It later became incorporated into Inka mythology as the birthplace of mankind as the Inka built their own structures alongside the ruins. Tiwanaku remains an integral locale in the religious lives of Andean people in the turbulent present of modern Bolivia.
Every year in the month of July, residents of the 20 provinces of La Paz, Bolivia wear their traditional attires and perform typical dances along the city’s main avenues during the Annual Native Music and Dance Festival. The festival is part of the Fiestas Julias celebrations, a month’s worth of cultural, social, and civic events to remember and commemorate Bolivia’s independence from Spain.