Sillustani

March 6, 2012 - This weekend we once again escaped from Puno, this time taking in the fresh air and beautiful views in Sillustani. Not an escape from the cold, as the weather turned quite chilly the moment we left Puno, but a nice break nonetheless.

After a short and enjoyable ride boasting comfy seats and views of the flooded but pretty countryside, we arrived in the small town of Sillustani, which is one of those towns that seems to only exist for the purpose of tourism. We slowly made our way up a muddy path until we began spotting stone towers on the hillside. Our guide carefully, and in much detail, told us about the history behind this "mystical" place. The towers are chullpas or funeral towers built by pre-Inca civilizations to bury dead nobility. Many of them lay incomplete or in ruins because the Spanish destroyed them for their strange, magnetic powers. I was a bit skeptical of these magical powers until our guide ran a compass in front of the rocks and it did indeed go haywire. Also, most of the towers have been pilfered for their valuable artifacts, some of which, thankfully, made it to a museum in Puno.

There were three main towers named after animals, the lizard, snake, and puma towers. Two remains of towers next to each other were sun and moon temples where offerings (and likely human and animal sacrifices were made). Apparently people were buried in the fetal position, preparing them for rebirth in their next life.

Given my short attention span for historical facts, those are the only details I recall. Mostly I spent my time taking in the crisp, pollution-free air and enjoying the delightful harmony of the blue sky, shimmering lake, green grass, and happy yellow flowers all around us. Plus, the occasional herd of cute llamas and alpacas (still can't tell the difference).

 
On the way home we stopped at a traditional home, the ever-so-stereotypical "cultural" experience that no good tourist trip in a developing country can leave out. Despite being cliche, it was enjoyable to see inside one of the stone courtyards we had passed on the way there. Inside were several small rooms, which seemed very bare and cold to me, except one which was decorated with a bright pink bedspread. Also quite comical, and maybe just for the tourists, was the tiny guinea pig (or cuy) house. Like all the houses we had passed, even the guinea pigs had two ceramic bulls on top for good luck.