The Pontianak

A woman who died in childbirth and came back for revenge — one of the central figures of Malay and Indonesian folklore. Her presence is identified by smell: first the sweetness of frangipani, then the smell of a corpse. She is held to live in banana trees, which is why they are not planted right against a house. The city of Pontianak in Borneo carries her name: by tradition its founder laid out the settlement on the spot where he drove these spirits off.

Sigue leyendo

Lago Titicaca

El lago navegable más alto del mundo, en la frontera de Perú y Bolivia, del que la tradición inca hace emerger a Manco Cápac para fundar su imperio. En 2000 una expedición submarina encontró en el fondo, cerca de la Isla del Sol, una terraza de piedra y un muro de unos ochocientos metros: construcción tiahuanaco preincaica, hoy sumergida. Del fondo se siguen recuperando ofrendas: figurillas de oro, incienso, huesos de llama.