ruins tagged posts

In Asia, Thailand 2004 On  25/11/2004  One comment

Since we had seen some photos from Ayutthaya in a magazine, we decided to spend a day there. Declared as Unesco’s World Heritage, the city has many temples spread by the river margins. It was also the capital of Siam for about 4 centuries. Nowadays it has a peaceful atmosphere, far from the rush and stress of Bangkok. We felt that on restaurants and hotels. Here life goes slower and more contemplative.

We visited some ruins. Not all of them because it would be so tiresome and we assimilate what we were seeing. It was interesting to learn a bit about the Buddhist rituals. We spent some time in a temple observing it. There were the symbolic objects: the candle, representing the wisdom, the flowers, the compassion, the incense, and the purification. There was also a pot full of sticks that they shake it until one of the sticks pop out. On it there was a number that correspond to a message...

In Asia, Europe, Turquia 2002 On  24/09/2002  No comments

Recommended by a German friend I decided to see Ephesus. The city near by is Selçuk. I only slept a night there and could notice that they are prepared to tourism. Every time I asked for information they answered with kindness. Many of them spoke English, a sign that they are used to foreign tourists.

I woke up early to visit the ruins. The day was cloudy, ugly… It would be a difficult day, how could I photograph rocks without shadow and volume? Gray days always make me sad.

I walk around the ruins without a guide. Once in a while I would stop and hear a guide from a tour group. Sometime I would have the explanations in Englih, then in French or Spanish, even a Portuguese group I met. Brazilians unfortunately not. Germans, there were many, since I don’t understand the language I would wait for the next group. For me this is the perfect way to visit the ruins, I can go by myself at my own pace...

In Asia, Europe, Turquia 2002 On  23/09/2002  No comments

Pamukkale is a visually interesting place, from far away it looks like a white tip mountain. There are white terraces that were formed by the thermal waters rich in calcium bicarbonate. The water as they go down they deposit carbon dioxide in the soil. This creates some incredible white shapes. Scientist say the terraces started to be formed about 14 thousands years ago. The name Pamukkale means “cotton castle” in Turkish. For them the mountains looks like a castle made with cotton, for mi looks like made of ice.

In the same area there are ruins from an ancient city. I visited the amphitheater that it is behind the thermal baths. The place looked abandoned, unpreserved. I seams a piece of history was being left behind, being forgotten. Unfortunately I didn’t find much information on the place.

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In America, Argentina On  17/08/2001  No comments

I decided to do a tour to the Quebrada de Humahuaca. We left early in the morning. It was cold and foggy. After a 2 hour trip, we got at Pucamamarca – streets with colonial style houses and handcraft fair. The best is the view of the colorful mountain around the city. From there we headed to Tilcara where we visit the ruins, Pucara, and the ¨Museo Arqueológico¨. Pucara was constructed by the excavations done in the area. Among the stone walls grows lots of cactus.

Our next stop was Humahuaca. The city has a great monument in the honor of the aboriginal hero of independence, Diego. There are some handcraft shops and restaurants. Here one can see great indigenous traces on peolple and, for being near by the Bolivian border, the influence of its culture.

The way back, we stop in Uquia to visit a small church with paintings and golden objects. We also stop to see the famous ¨Cerro de las siete colores¨, a mountain with different color stripes.

We wanted to visit the center of Jujuy...

In America, Bolivia 2001 On  11/07/2001  One comment

I left at 9am to a tour in Tiahuanaco. In the way we stopped in the small city called Laja to visit the Baroque Mestizo style church. This was created to commemorate the victory of the Spaniard on the Incas. On the left side, there are Inca symbols as the condor, while on the right there are catholic symbols. The visit the Tiahuanaco starts in the local museum that shows indigenous objects from the region. We learned a little about the pre-Colombian cultures and went for a walk in the ruins.

Tiahuanaco was perhaps the most important culture in Bolivia. It was divided in 5 phases, the first it is believed it appeared 10 centuries before Christ, while that fifth it finished around 1200 DC. After this time the Incas arrived in the region and they took care of the temples.  Popular legends say that Viracocha (the greatest God, creator of the world) lived there...

In America, Peru 2001 On  01/06/2001  One comment

I arrived in Trujillo at 4am. As I was the only person to get off the bus that was going to Lima, once again, I suffered the fight of taxi drivers for my backpack. This time I got a little scared because I was not in a bus terminal, I was alone in a dark street. I decided not to argue and let them fight to decide who was going to take me. Well, the louder one earned.

To visit the ruins I didn’t want to get a tour, I decided to go by myself. In the morning I visited the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna. It is not known if they really were temples of the sun and moon. The name was given by the Spaniard when they arrived in the place and they thought these were Inca constructions. They did not know these were constructions from the Moche period, from hundreds of years before Incas.

Only one of the temples is opened to visits. I could see the different rooms, the sacrifice place and where they had found ceramic, skeletons and objects in gold, silver and copper...