Images by John Page unless otherwise noted
Day 10, September
13, Friday
Puno to Cuzco See Map
Sept. 13, Friday – Not too far from Puno, on the way back to Juliaca, we made a short side trip to Sillustani to see the large stone funeral towers called “chullpas”.
These were made by the Cholla people for the burial of their nobility. The Cholla were contemporaries of the Incas, but they spoke Aymara, not Quechua. Sillustani is located on a peninsula that juts into Lake Umayo.
On the way back to the main highway, we first stopped at the local museum, and then stopped at peasant’s farm that we noticed earlier on the way to Sillustani. We were curious about the ceramic good-luck bulls mounted on the gables of the roofs. We weren’t the only ones to stop. A whole bus load of tourists was inspecting the premises, so we just joined them. The owners had things set up as though their home was a regular tourist stop. There were two metates with large manos and ground corn? on display, and an outdoor kitchen with bowls containing examples of different foods they eat. The highlight of our impromptu stop was a little new-born, day-old baby alpaca. His mother kindly let us gawk at him and even hold him. Of course camera shutter were clicking away - I’m glad we took the time to stop.
The drive toward Cuzco was initially across the flat altiplano, following the Pucara River. On the horizon we could see snow-capped mountains. We continued north until we were right beside them. Terracing and fields exist on the slopes that are sometimes so steep I wonder how a person can even stand upright. At some point – I don’t even remember where exactly – we reached a pass and began to follow another river, the Vilcanota, which eventually becomes the Urubamba.
The closer we got to Cuzco, the more prosperous farms and homes seemed to be. People and animals are everywhere. Llamas and alpacas were common on the altiplano, but cows, goats, and sheep are more common in this area. Chickens, pigs and dogs are universal. Some dogs seem to be free-roaming strays while others apparently belong to families and help with the livestock. Cats are rare – at least I haven’t seen many.
Midafternoon, we stopped to see Raqchi, the ruins of an Inca Temple dedicated to the god, Viracocha. This structure supposedly supported the largest roof of any Inca building; it was enormous. We thought this site was way off the highway, but it was actually quite close – only a kilometer or so from the main road.
We reached Cuzco while it was still light and made our way along narrow one-way streets to our hotel, the Hostal Los Niños. It is located in an old colonial-style building with a central patio. The floors are not level. In fact, the whole building seems to be sloping. But the water is hot – really hot - almost scalding. The trucks had to be driven to a cochera, a secure parking lot several blocks away. Streets are too narrow to park on and not secure anyway.
For dinner that evening, we all walked down to the main plaza and ate in a second-story restaurant overlooking the square. I had a Peruvian chicken dish with a nicely spiced sauce. At 11,000 ft., it’s pretty chilly here in Cuzco too, so I filled my hot water bottle and curled up around it when I went to bed.
