Puno Off The Beaten Path

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These very interesting pre-Inca funeral towers are called chullpas. Most of these towers were built by the Colla (Aymara) in the 15th Century, for the burial of their important people. The chullpas are round, made with large stones, and are larger at the top than the bottom. One of the towers was white, and it was for women.

A long path loops back and forth from the parking lot to the top of the hill, going past the various towers. It is not a difficult walk.

There are some Inca ruins here also. The Intiwatana (Capture the Sun) was a solar calendar. There are 3 stair steps into it, representing the snake, puma and condor. Compasses don’t work within the circle due to magnetic rock.

Sillustani is located beside Umayo Lake, 30 km (18.7 miles) N of Puno. Take the highway toward Juliaca, and then turn onto a secondary road going west.

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We visited 'Chullpas the Sillustani' (read my other tips) on a guided tour, and on the way back to Puno, our guide asked if we wanted to visit a local farm. Along the road from the burial towers to the city, we passed a few farms, and now we stopped at one for a short visit.

We were welcomed by the farmer's wife and her daughter and they showed us around their small farm. We saw the llamas, cows, guinea pigs, and learnt about the different kinds of crops they are growing. The wife served a boiled potato with homemade cheese for us – it tasted absolutely fantastic!

The visit ended with a demonstration of how llama wool is processed and woven into various textiles. Very interesting. It was free to visit the farm, but a tip was appreciated - or you can buy some of their homemade textiles.

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Chucuito is a small local town, located about 20 kilometres from Puno – a 30 minutes ride by car. We took a taxi from the centre of Puno to Chucuito and paid around 15 USD for the two-way trip.

We started our sightseeing in Chucuito by visiting the 'Inca Uyu Park', which is a walled enclosure filled with Indian sculptures. It does not require much imagination to see what the sculptures are supposed to symbolize, and the many phallus sculptures may have been a part of a ‘Temple of Fertility’. Once the park was visited by many women, who wanted to become pregnant, and they were sitting on top of the sculptures for hours in hopes of increasing their fertility. But the origin of the park and sculptures is actually not known for sure. Another theory of the park is that it was part of a larger complex and was used for ceremonial rituals of political and religious nature. 'Inca Uyu Park' was not overrun with tourists and we were the only ones visiting the park! Entrance: 5 s/.

Before heading back to Puno, we visited the town’s main square - but even here, we met no people! It is decorated with a beautiful stone mosaic. The old ‘Santo Domingo Church’ is located at the square, but it was closed for visitors. So was the museum, ‘Museo Wawa Marka’, we spotted from the church.

Chucuito is a small town with a sleepy town atmosphere!

There are street food vendors in the tiny streets that surround bustling Lima Street in the heart of Puno, and if you're unafraid and up for adventure, I recommend that you try food sold in this set-up. I actually did and it was a wonderful treat that I enjoyed very much! The only people buying from these vendors were the locals and laborer types. It gave me much pleasure to eat in this set-up as this sure is the most authentic you can ever get.

Outskirts of Puno are the ruins at Sillustani. This plade is filled with mysterious cylindrical tombs all with an opening that faces the sun. Some of these tombs are massive. These ruins pre-date the Incas in this region.

When I saw this beautiful building I thought it might be a museum or official building, but it happened to be a school, as I saw the boys going out after classes. They were all wearing some kinf od uniform that reminded me a military place, but maybe it was just the ordinary uniform for shool boys...

In every little street in Puno you could discover charming houses, patios, gates, balconies... you just had to be aware and look around, enter the private houses, sneak around... I love that!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION