Gate 1 Travel Blog

Deep in the historic center of La Paz, Bolivia’s bustling and thriving capital, the Mercado de Brujas, or the Witchcraft Market, clings to centuries-old traditions. Its herbal tea infusions, coca leaves and colorful alpaca sweaters place it on par with most any other Andean marketplace. But closer inspection reveals the more peculiar items that have helped to give this unusual emporium its name. Dried toucan beaks and snake skins might help the buyer cast spells. And sullus, dried llama fetuses, can be purchased as traditional offerings to the earth goddess Pachamama. There’s a reason this most unusual of markets still thrives after centuries of calming the spirits. Bolivia, though moving ever-forward into the 21st century, holds fast to the history and traditions that have helped shape its cultural identity.

People of the Gods

Though Bolivia has been inhabited for at least 5,000 years, the first society emerged here with the arrival of the Aymara people in 1500 BC. By 300 AD, these settlers had grown into a regional powerhouse as the Tiwanaku Empire. Because they had a corner on the llama market and controlled the flow of food trade, they were able to bring dozens of indigenous cultures under their rule. Its capital city, also named Tiwanaku, was home to 30,000 people at its peak.

You may still see evidence of that era’s grandeur in La Paz, where an open-air museum reveals some of the highlights of the Tiwanaku. Chief among these is the 10-ton Gate of the Sun, an impressive arch carved from a single slab of stone and etched with condor heads and the mythic Lord of the Walking Sticks. Here, it’s easy to sense one of the earliest expressions of Bolivia’s belief in the spirit world. But even as Tiwanaku fell, otherwordly beings maintained their influence.

In the late 14^th century, the Incas wrested control of the region away from the Aymara and Bolivia became part of the Incan Empire. Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca is perhaps the most memorable place to soak up the spell of that time. Crossing the shimmering water by boat to the Isla del Sol (the Island of the Sun), you can discover the spot where, according to Inca legend, the creator of the universe rose from the lake and threw the sun into the heavens. The island, unpaved and wild, remains dotted with mysterious pre-Columbian ruins to this day.

Colonial Highs & Lows

The Inca period didn’t last long. The arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century led to a European-style building boom, as salt and silver mining yielded great wealth. The epicenter of the Spanish heyday was Potosi, perched at 13,400 feet above sea level. At one point, Potosi produced 60% of the world’s silver, had its own mint, and boasted 200,000 residents. A saying that spread across South America spoke to the growing city’s prosperity: “to be worth a Potosí” meant to really be worth something. Seeing its grand churches and ornate colonial architecture now, it’s easy to imagine the era. The same may be said of elegant Sucre, Bolivia’s original capital city. Here, all buildings are whitewashed by government decree and stone patios call to mind the architecture of Catalan.

Sadly, the wealth of Potosi and Sucre flowed only into the coffers of Spain and Spanish descendants. Indigenous people reaped no wealth from the fruits of their land. You might think the brujas from the Witchcraft Market would have cast an evil spell on the colonialists. Instead, the indigenous people turned to Simon Bolivar, the h American revolutionary who led the battle for independence in 1825. Their sovereignty won, the people named the country for their national hero. In Sucre, the 17^th-century Liberty House preserves the signed independence documents which you can still view today. As for Bolivar, he didn’t stay—the newly free people offered him the presidency, but he was already president of Colombia.

Bolivian Tradition Lives On

Today, Bolivia is a democratic republic, ruled by its first-ever indigenous President, Evo Morales. As you can tell from its Witchcraft Market, the nation continues to embrace its many cultures. Thirty-six languages are officially spoken here. Other traditional goods are on display in the village markets of Candelaria and Tarabuco. In a Discovery Tours small group, we can fully experience the singular story of Bolivia, from remote ruins and witches’ stalls to colonial-flavored towns and modern cities.

Explore the beauty and mystery of Bolivia with Gate 1 Travel.

Sprawling some 4,000 square miles, the stunningly white salt flats of Uyuni, Bolivia, are a feast for the eyes—an ever-changing, mirage-like phenomenon. In the brightest daylight they appear to shimmer like a lake. In the slant glow of sunrise or sunset, they look more like a moonscape. Just a hint of rain can transform them into a glassy—but quite temporary—sea so shallow that explorers look to be walking on water. Not surprisingly, this is one of the most photographed locales in South America.

These are not only the world’s largest salt flats; they are also the highest, resting at a crest in the Andes 11,995 feet above sea level. The salar de Uyuni was formed by the gradual drying of a massive lake on the Bolivian altiplano some 40,000 years ago. Estimates suggest that the salar contains as much as 10 billion tons of salt. Local miners have been chipping away at it slowly, to the tune of 25,000 tons a year. (There’s no danger of ruining the landscape: It would take 100,000 years to carve away even the top quarter of the salt surface.) All the miners belong to a single cooperative that distributes the profits equally, resulting in a concerted effort to mine the landscape wisely.

Salt isn’t the only commodity for which Uyuni is known. The flats are home to roughly 40% of earth’s lithium reserves. China previously dominated the industry that produces lithium for batteries, but Bolivia joined the market this year and hopes to soon be a competitor. It is already a player in the trade of borax, which is abundant in the salar as well.

As austere and serene as the flats might seem, Uyuni was once a rail hub for Bolivia, its trains especially important for the mining industry. From the late 1800’s to the 1940’s, trains from Chile to La Paz passed through Uyuni, and by the dawn of the 20th century, there was talk of an expanded network with more lines and departures here. But regional tensions—Chile was in constant conflict with Peru and Bolivia—put an end to that dream. Instead, the opposite happened: Uyuni became home to the Great Train Graveyard, where out-of-service locomotives from not only South America but Great Britain were abandoned to history. Corrosion was unavoidable in the face of endless salt winds, and the result is a fascinating desertscape of ochre skeletons sinking into the sand.

Because of the vast scope of the salar, the graveyard seems to disappear from a distance. In fact, the eye is often fooled here as the landscape appears to fade into nothing but a pale glow that stretches beyond sight. That’s the result of the incredible degree of flatness—only a few feet in variation across thousands of miles. If you think this sounds like an otherworldly terrain, you wouldn’t be too far off: NASA uses the salar as a calibration tool for satellites, capitalizing on its reflectiveness and stability to test distances from earth.

Not surprisingly, many thousands of travelers seek out this natural wonder every year. Because Discovery Tours strictly caps the size of our small group, our footprint is small too. We tread lightly, careful to respect the fragile environment, making sure its beauty remains undisturbed for the next travelers lucky enough to experience this captivating wonder.

Visit the Uyuni Salt Flats during our Bolivia & Peru: Andean & Amazonian Culture trip.

Straddling a saddleback mountain, the magnificent “Lost City” of Machu Picchu is one of travel’s great milestones, to say nothing of its place as one of the world’s great mysteries. Its precise architecture, erected without mortar, has proven itself capable over its 400-plus years of withstanding earthquakes. Even more remarkable, the saddleback on which it rests was not a natural formation; it had to be sculpted to meet the needs of its brilliant Incan city planner. Earth and massive dry stones had to be moved, foundations laid, rocks crushed for drainage. All this work was accomplished by a society without iron tools, work animals, or wheels. No one really knows how they did it.

But they did. And in the century since it was discovered by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham, scientists have made some fascinating conclusions about the site’s layout, conclusions that illustrate the size and scope of the place.

Machu Picchu was built to include an urban sector and an agricultural sector. More than this, it had an upper town and a lower. As you might expect, temples were part of the upper town and storage warehouses were in the lower.

About 200 buildings are spread out across wide terraces that step down from the saddle, with a massive central square at the middle. Terraces were also used for irrigation and gardens. Stone stairways linked many of the terraces. In the east, the citizens’ houses draped down the mountain. On the other side of the square were various religious and ceremonial buildings.

Plenty of mystery also surrounds the significance of Machu Picchu to the Inca. A newer theory disregards the idea that people lived on the mountain and says instead that the site was a grand religious place, like a Mecca, that marked the end of a ceremonial pilgrimage, and the Inca Trail was laid out on an intentionally arduous path whose spectacular vistas are meant to reward the long, hard walk.

Other theories suggest that the site’s most important structures were oriented to coincide with the location of nearby holy mountains and with the location of the sun during solstices and equinoxes. One idea goes so far as to suggest that the city itself was built upon this very site so that it would be encircled by the Urubamba River, which the Inca considered holy. Or, perhaps, goes another theory, it was a royal retreat – the equivalent of a hunting lodge where the Inca Emperor Pachacuti could escape to relax and entertain guests.

Much of the wonder of Machu Picchu, of course, rests in its very mystery. Were we to strip the mystery and intrigue away, then where would its allure lie? Do we really want to know with certainty why Machu Picchu exists, or how it was constructed? Better, perhaps, to leave its grand and magnificent design to the imagination.

Andean Vistas, Unspoiled Cultures & Seldom-Seen Ruins

Snow-capped Andean peaks scrape at the sky. A patchwork of checkered farmland – neat squares of emeralds, olives, and browns – stretches over vast valleys, then climb hillsides to altiplano plateaus. Pristine alpine streams race through fields. There is something ethereal at work in the tranquil countryside of Peru. And once you lay your eyes on such sublime beauty, it may come as no surprise that in the religion of the ancient Inca (and many of their modern-day descendants), these forces of nature – mountains and streams and valleys – are revered as apus, or spirits.

For today’s traveler, the most profound way to get in touch with the Inca’s spiritual side is to venture beyond the typical sites and head deeper into this unspoiled country. Don’t get us wrong – we know that no trip to Peru is complete without explorations of Machu Picchu and the Incan capital of Cusco, and we’re sure to bring you to these magnificent places. But behind these cultural treasures, away from the well-trodden tourist paths, another side of Peru beckons … a side embraced by apus, and graced by a history rich in colonial and indigenous heritage.

Behold a Gleaming City of White
The southern outpost of Arequipa is the perfect starting point for deeper Peruvian explorations. Its geographic isolation has allowed it to evolve with little outside influence; today, the city remains a unique and fascinating mix of Spanish and indigenous descendants. In fact, when UNESCO bestowed World Heritage status on Arequipa, it called the city’s historic center “a masterpiece of the European creative coalition and native characteristics.”

This praise owes much to the beauty of the city’s architecture. Its pearl-white colonial buildings gleam in the Peruvian sun; Spaniards built their city from the sillar – cream-colored volcanic rock – that carved this Andean region over millennia. The striking cityscape has earned Arequipa the nickname, “Ciudad Blanca,” or White City. You can almost imagine that its buildings literally rose out of the earthen rock.

From the Depths of Colca Canyon to the Heights of Lake Titicaca
The landscape surrounding Arequipa, formed by a string of 80 volcanoes and epic tectonic shifts, is at once peaceful and dramatic. Andean peaks are everywhere, as we’ll discover during magnificent drives past pre-Inca farming terraces that climb fertile slopes. But one of our most memorable stops won’t have you looking up at mountains, but down into the yawning crevice of the Colca Canyon. This impressive crag in the earth is more than twice as deep as Arizona’s Grand Canyon; its walls, though not as steep, drop 13,650 feet from the rim. We keep our eyes open for the Andean condor as it rides air currents wafting up from the canyon floor.

Our route traverses the beauty of southeastern Peru. It’s not uncommon to come across shepherds herding their sheep or alpacas across these immense plains. It is a classic Peruvian tableau, despite that the horses they ride are not Peruvian at all, but were brought here by the Spanish. But on the lake known as Lagunillas, plenty of indigenous flora and birdlife hug the shores – no imports here! It is a startling pool of blue amidst a solitary landscape.

Despite Lagunillas’ undeniable beauty, another body of water captures our interest, the highest navigable lake in the world: Lake Titicaca, which straddles the Peruvian and Bolivian border. The small city of Puno is our base for exploring the home of the legendary Uros people, a resourceful tribe that centuries ago built vast rafts from the lake’s tough totora reeds so they could escape the wrath of an approaching enemy. On their newly made flotilla-homes, they cast off from shore to avoid decimation. As threats grew on other shores, they simply relocated their Islas Flotantes, or Floating Islands, to another part of the massive lake. The Uros were eventually conquered by the Inca, but their reed-island cultures survived. Today, they no longer have reason to move around like lake nomads. The threat of marauding tribes is gone, yet 44 of their islands – a rich and revered part of their heritage and lifestyle – remain.

Beyond Machu Picchu: Uncovering an Ancient Past
Near Puno, the fascinating Peruvian burial site of Sillustani comes into view amidst a barren landscape. It might at first appear to be a series of smokestacks. But these stone towers were actually funereal chambers for elite members of the Aymara people. An entire family was placed into each tower, called “uta Amaya,” or “houses of the soul” by the Aymara. Openings on the tombs all faced east, where the sun was reborn each day. The more remarkable features of Sillustani are the carved stones that comprise each tower. With their cut rectangular edges and uniform size, the craftsmanship behind them is considered more complex than that used by the Inca, even though the Aymara pre-dated them.

Of course, the Inca were brilliant engineers too, as we see at the seldom-visited complex of Raqchi, one of holiest sites in the Inca Empire. This temple was enormous, more than 25,000 square feet and covered by what was perhaps the largest single roof of the empire. Priests lived in adjoining quarters, and 100 round granary houses held corn and quinoa that were likely used in ceremonies. Incas worshipped here by the thousands.

We can be thankful that even the conquistadors saw Raqchi fit to at least partially preserve. But the contributions of the Spanish throughout Peru are also breathtaking. Off the beaten path, 30 miles from Cusco, the 17th-century church of Andahuaylillas stands as testament to their artistic and religious heritage. Don’t be fooled by the nondescript exterior of this cathedral. Inside, the artwork is dazzling. A rich mix of red and gold hues surrounds a gilded altar. Its painted ceilings and frescoed walls have inspired some to compare this church to the Sistine Chapel.

Untouched cultures … spectacular natural beauty … little-known pockets of rich history. This is the other side of Peru, and our small groups allow unfettered access to its glories. Read more about our Peruvian Legends tour and call to reserve your space today!