We arrived into Lake Titicaca before sunrise today. hehe, Titicaca. We are staying in a small city called Puno which is on the usual tourist trail and is a launching point to see the floating reed islands and ruins that are dotted around Lake Titicaca. After a nap and a quick look around the city centre we organised an overnight stay on one of the floating islands and went to see the Sillustani ruins. To reach the Sillustani ruins you either need to hire a car or taxi or take a cheap tour. we opted for the cheapest option being the tour.
The Sillustani ruins are from the pre-incan and Incan periods and consist of about 50 towers which were used as burial tombs. Some towers are in better condition than others and the area also has the ruins of a sun and moon temple which the spaniards unfortunately destroyed. Behind the flat mountain where these towers sit is a big lake with a huge flat topped island in the middle which also looks pretty spectyacular. As we were leaving the site a llama spat on Vivs hand which is supposed to be good luck and a cheeky lamb followed us and tried to eat anything edible it could get its face on.
Before heading back to Puno the tour took us to a farmers house to see how families live out here. The house was made completely of mud brick, and consited of a walled in courtyard with several different buildings for different purposes. They also had several llamas, alpacas, dogs, sheep and guinnie pigs. The farmers bought out a table full of local priduce for everyone to try, the most surprising of which was a bowl of clay which is used a dipping sauce for bread, potatoes and cheese…. Yes, clay. It was actually really good!
