222 CultureShock! Bolivia
At lake level is a cosy museum, fi nanced by Bolivia’s
National Institute of Archaeology. Many of the museum’s
pieces of ceramic, gold and silver artwork were protected from
scavengers in the homes of the villagers until the museum
was built. The museum is truly a community project.
Hiking above the lake level part of town, you’ll pass
through a sacred stone portal into an upper section, where an
attractive school house is one of the structures surrounding
an informal, grassy pedestrian plaza.Chinkana Temple
Beyond this level, a stone marked path winds up to
breathtaking views of coves and beaches, past a sacred stone
outcrop, to a peak where pilgrims and travellers alike receive
the Kallawaya mystic ceremony, the burning of coca leaves
by an island shaman. After this purifi cation of the soul, one
is ready to visit the Chinkana Temple, a large stone edifi ce
built in the form of a maze, with numerous interior doors
and passageways.
The stone Chinkana Temple, a 3–4 km (2–2.5 mile)
walk from the village, is perched on a high cliff overlooking
a magnificent deserted beach. The whole hike, from
Challapampa to Chinkana and back, is a little more than 8 km
(5 miles). Each point in the hike offers a distinct panorama
of the lake, beaches, crevasses and coves.The Great Lake
Impressionist spirits will delight as the rich blue of the lake
changes to a soothing emerald in some of the coves. At
certain angles, the lake is so wide that one cannot see the
opposite shore.
If you see the world the way Monet did, then there
are at least seven distinct times for viewing the lake. The
brown terraces at rest in winter are replaced by a quiltwork
of varying patterns of green in summer (December
through March).
With only limited electric lighting on the island, a full moon
allows for such a spectral view of the shore of Challapampa,
with hushed adobe dwellings between shining volcanic