It's all Greek to me !!!

                                                                                                            Athens, Greece
                                                                                   June, 2015

Present:

As you are reading this post, Greece is in a financial turmoil. Though the EU bailout agreement has been reached, looks like Greece is going to go through a very hard transition at least for the short term. The banks are now open after 3 weeks. It is sad to see the common people of a county with such a rich history and culture getting affected. I chatted with many Greeks during this visit. They all have a lot of pride. They didn't want handouts from EU, just a practical solution to the problem. We visited Greece during the last week of June (before the banks were closed) and didn't experience any difficulty. 


Past: 
                                                                                                             Temple of Zeus

Construction of the Temple of Zeus, the Olympian King of Gods, started in 515 B.C but was completed only in 131 AD during the Roman rule by the Roman emperor Hadrian. During the Greek and Roman periods, the Temple of Zeus was the largest temple in Greece. It was larger than the Parthenon in the Acropolis.

The Temple of Zeus as seen from the Acropolis. The Arch of Hadrian, is towards the lower left corner.

Temple of Zeus.

Out of the 104 Marble Corinthian columns, only 15 are standing.

The Temple of Zeus with the Acropolis and the Parthenon, far in the background.

The 16th column, fell during the earthquake of 1852.
The individual circular blocks that made up the column are clearly visible.

Arch of Hadrian, from the streets of Plaka, a historic neighborhood closer to the Acropolis.

The Athenians built this arch to honor the Roman emperor, Hadrian.

Now, I fully understand the meaning of "It's all Greek to me" !!! 
The above sign translates to "The Museum of Pavlos and Alexandra Kanellopoulou".
Looks like,
M = M
O = U
Y = S
 E = E
      N = M ...
what ??? I thought M = M !!!
My head is spinning :)

@Night: San Diego. Saturn !!!

While Jupiter and Venus are lighting up the western sky, Saturn is rising in the south east. Saturn's rings are fully facing the earth ( checkout  Lord of the Rings ) and I hope to do more imaging of Saturn through the summer.

Saturn is just 1.2 billion Kilometers from earth :)
Canon T3i connected to Orion XT6 Dobsonian Telescope.
ISO 400, 1/3 secs
June 9th, 20:12:20 hrs

My first video capture of Saturn!  Any jittering and rotation you perceive are due to atmospheric disturbances :)
 

@Night: San Diego. Jupiter !!!

                                                                                

 The brown lines are Jupiter's cloud bands, a permanent feature of Jupiter.
Canon T3i connected to Orion XT6 Dobsonian Telescope.
ISO 1600, 1/125 secs.June 6th. 21:22:47 hrs.

Play the video to watch Jupiter as it drifts across my telescope's eye piece. My first ever attempt to record a video of a planet! Jupiter has at least 67 moons !!! The 4 dots you see in the video are known as the Galilean moons. They are the largest 4 moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) of Jupiter and were discovered by Galileo around January of 1610.

La Paz

                                                                          La Paz, Bolivia
                                                                             June 2014



La Paz was the last stop for us on this 2 week trip to Peru & Bolivia. We stayed there for less than a day before our flight to Lima and then back to USA. We didn't plan to do any sight seeing at La Paz. Just relaxed and explored the city as we arrived and did some shopping before going to the airport.

As we were returning from Tiwanaku, our guide stopped the van to show us this stunning view of the entire city of La Paz from a vantage point.
I have never experienced a view like this. La Paz is surrounded by tall mountains and houses have been built on the slopes of the mountains, all the way to the top.
The whole city looked like a big, natural bowl. Checkout La Paz, Bolivia in Google Earth and zoom out. !!!

Plaza Murillo, the historic main plaza of La Paz, built in 1558.

National Congress building at Plaza Murillo.
Before reading this caption, if you noticed that this clock looks different, you have good observing skills ;)
Click on the photo to watch it in full screen.

Guards outside the Presidential Palace at Plaza Murillo.

Shopping at the Witches' Market, on the way to La Paz airport !!!

This lady pointed me to the things hanging above her head
and said I can take photos !!!

Those things are the dried fetuses of Llamas !!!
People buy these fetuses as a sacred offering to Pachamama, the goddess Mother Earth.
Hopefully the Llamas died of natural causes !!!

After 2 weeks on the road, we were desperate for Indian food. Surprisingly, there was an Indian restaurant, Namaste, nearby our hotel and we had our dinner there.  The owner is from Bengal and he was so happy to see us. He told us not to worry about what is in the menu and said he would make any dish we ask for. :) There was another Indian family having dinner. I asked the owner how big is the Indian community in La Paz.  He paused, looked around and said, "Including your family, the entire Indian community in La Paz is in inside this restaurant." !!! :) 

Puma Punku !!!

                                                                       Puma Punku, Bolivia
                                                                             June 2014 

"Puma Punku" means the "The Door of the Puma" and is the source of many alien theories. These theories are based on the assumption that such precision cut, smooth and interlocking stone work found at Puma Punku could not have been done by the Tiwanaku natives without sophisticated machinery and aliens had played a role. Puma Punku is right across from the Tiwanaku site. Carbon dating suggests that the Puma Punku complex must have been built around 536 - 600 AD. It is believed that Puma Punku was destroyed by an earthquake. The sculpted stones on display were found 2 meters under ground. While some parts of Puma Punku have been excavated, a major portion of the site is still underground. The interesting aspects of Puma Punku are the massive stones (with the heaviest weighing around 130 tons), precisely cut geometrical shapes, the smoothness of the stones and the interlocking H-Block stones.

There are few unsolved mysteries about Puma Punku:

1. It has been confirmed that the stones of Puma Punku are from a quarries from more than 10 to 100 kilometers away.There are no tress in the area which could be used as rollers to move the stones. There is no evidence that Tiwanaku culture used wheels. How were these massive stones moved from the quarries?
2. The various shapes cut on on the stones require good understanding of geometry and look like they were done using a modern machine.  How did they do it?
3. The smooth surfaces of the well preserved stones look as if polished by a machine.!!!
4. The interlocking stones were precisely cut and fitted together at various angles such that not even a sheet of paper can be inserted in to their joints.  

 

The famous "H" blocks of Puma Punku. These massive stones were used to build the walls of Puma Punku structures.
The stones were so precisely cut and interlocked it is hard to imagine it was done by hand :) 

An array of unearthed stones with various geometrical patterns.

Massive stone blocks were fitted together by pouring molten bronze over the grooves cut in the adjacent stones.
It really looks like they used a stone cutting machine :)

Another example of precision:  perfectly spaced, drilled holes.

There are stones with more than 80 surfaces cut on them.
I counted 50 different surfaces just on the front side of this stone.

No one knows what kind of tools were used.

If you are interested, search Google for "Puma Punku Alien Theory". You will get lot of hits including youtube videos. Many authors have made lot of $$$ by publishing books about ancient aliens. :) I don't believe in these alien theories. I believe it is just arrogant to think that we are smarter than our ancestors ;)

Tiwanaku

                                                                       Tiwanaku, Bolivia
                                                                             June 2014
 
Most of the tourists to Peru, visit the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Cusco, the symbols of the great Inca culture. Just to the south of Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia,  there is an equally important archaeological site at Tiwanaku. Before the Incas, the Tiwanaku empire had dominated Peru, Bolivia and parts of northern Chile.  While the Incas are world famous, the fact that the Tiwanaku civilization had a significant influence on the Incas is not well known. In fact, it is believed that the Incas adopted lot of elements from the Tiwanaku mythology and construction methods in to their own. The Tiwanaku culture never developed a written language and it is a mystery why they perished. Tiwanaku is a UNESCO World Heritage site.   

Somehow, this welcome arch of Tiwanaku town reminded me of the numerous welcome arches I am used to, in India :)

A stone monolith (aka Stela) in the Tiwanaku museum. This statue is called the "Bennet Monolith", named after Wendell C. Bennet who found it in 1932 at the Tiwanaku archaeological site. This Stela is 24 feet tall and weighs 20 tons. It is interesting to note that the lower part of the Stela is covered in fish-scales, similar to the "Matsya Avatar" of the Indian God, Vishnu !!!

An architectural model showing the the 3 major attractions at the Tiwanaku archaeological site: 1) The Akapana (stepped pyramid), 2) The Kalasasaya temple complex just north of the Akapana and 3) the subterranean temple to the right of the Kalasasaaya complex.

Akapana Pyramid
The Akapana pyramid is the largest man-made structure at Tiwanaku. It had 7 large platforms with stone retaining walls. As shown in the model, the top platform had a large water reservoir shaped like the Andean cross. One of the explanations is that during the winter solstice, the water reflected the Southern Cross constellation right overhead. The Tiwanaku culture preceded the Incas in following the "As Above, So Below" concept.

After centuries of looting by the Spanish to build churches and by the locals to build houses,
the original retaining walls have been stripped off the stones. This is what is left of the Akapana pyramid. 

Subterranean Temple:

View of the Subterranean temple form the top of Akapana pyramid.

Subterranean temple with 3 statues in the middle.

Archaeologists believe these statues must be representing the Tiwanaku ancestors.

An interesting feature of the subterranean temple is the heads sticking out of the wall.

One of the explanations is, these heads represent the heads of the enemies killed by the the Tiwanaku empire. 
It was a custom of the Tiwanaku culture to display the severed heads of their enemies.

Kalasasaya Temple:
"Kala" means rock and "Saya" means standing up. Kalasasaya is a temple of standing rocks. The two majors highlights of the Kalasasaya temple are the "Ponce Monolith" and the "Sun Gate". It is believed that the Kalasasaya temple was build to track and identify the movement of the Sun and the changing seasons. 

View of the Kalasasaya temple complex from the top of the Akapana pyramid.

Entrance of the Kalasasaya Temple.

The Ponce monolith, believed to be the representation of stone giants
of the first populated the world, according to the Andean mythology.

Intricate carvings of the Ponce monolith.

Sun Gate:
From the time I first read about the Sun Gate at Tiwanaku, i was very keen on visiting it. I thought, the top horizontal portion is the original work and it had been placed on 2 smooth concrete pillars. Our guide, Rodrigo very politely pointed out that the Sun Gate was made of a single stone. 

The Sun Gate.

The central figure is believed to be Lord Viracocha. On either side, a total of 48 "bird-like" characters have been carved, 32 with human heads and 16 with condor heads.
The Sun Gate is facing straight East and is believed to be an astronomical calendar.

The central figure of the Sun Gate, wearing an elaborate head dress is believed to be the Inca God of creation, Viracocha.

"Sun"dar trying to imitate the "Sun" God !!!

View of the Ponce Stela and the Kalasasaya temple from the Subterranean temple.

@Night: Isla Del Sol, Bolivia

                                                                       Isla Del Sol, Bolivia
                                                                             June 2014

Milky Way rising over Lake Titicaca. The yellow light pollution near the horizon is from La Paz, Bolivia.
June 22, 2014; 7:23:48 PM

We spent just 1 day there and this is my 4th post about Isla Del Sol. This is an awesome place for the body, mind and soul.  While arriving there was an adventure, the Sunset was spectacular and the island was beautiful, the night sky was out of this world, literally :)

The large bright object to the right of the tree trunk is the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). 
June 23, 2014; 5:11:08 AM

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the small blotch to the right and top of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
Both the LMC and SMC are considered as satellite galaxies to our Milk Way galaxy and are not visible
from Northern hemisphere locations. You can view them from India. 
June 23, 2014; 5:46:06 AM

The southern part of the Milky Way, visible only from the southern hemisphere.
The dark clouds visible in this shot were worshiped by Incas and associated with Inca's mythology.
The 2 bright stars at the center are the Alpha and Beta Centauri, referred to as the "eyes of the Llama" by the Incas.
To their right is the dark cloud called "Coalsack" and to its right is the Southern Cross. 
June 22, 2014; 7:32:07 PM

Early in the morning. Due to the motion of the earth around the Sun, the Milky Way appears to be setting.
As a reference, what ever is towards the top in the first photo is towards the bottom in this photo :) 
June 23, 2014; 4:42:31 AM

Moon over the Sun island. Venus is rising just above the mountain peak. 
June 23, 2014; 4:53:09 AM

Moon, Venus and Pleiades (7 sisters, Krithika) to the left of Venus.
 June 23, 2014; 5:21:40 AM

Moon, Venus, Pleiades and Taurus just rising above the mountain peak. 
June 23, 2014; 5:31:39 AM

Taurus ( the inverted "V" ) is below Venus and above the mountain peaks.
Even with the moon shining, so many stars were visible clear and bright, thanks to the 13,000 feel elevation. 
June 23, 2014; 5:48:49 AM

What a place to enjoy the day time views as well as the night skies !!! Our guide, Rodrigo, showed us the piece of land he had bought in Isla Del Sol. He is planning to build a house and retire here :). Lucky Guy !!!