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Sillustani

Near Puno is the town of Sillustani. Here a sacred hilltop is home to scores of Inca chulpas. These burial towers vary in size and construction from the simple tower in the foreground, to the 37 foot tall tower at the top that employs the classic Inca stonework that was reserved for royalty or special places.

Above you can see the size of the stones used in the construction of the finer stonework. This type of stonework was reserved for the hilltop. You will note that the stones have concave ends. This technique made it easier to make the precise fit that was characteristic of the Royal Inca Style.

Below, clockwise from top left: 1:One can see the precise fit without the use of mortar--a matchbook cover cannot be inserted between the stones. 2:The hilltop is almost completely ringed by a small lake--smaller chulpas are at lower elevations. 3:Near the summit are these Inca ceremonial rings. 4:Finally, we show a comparison to chulpa styles that we had seen earlier on the Bolivian Altiplano--there the chulpas were square and were built from adobes.

On the way down we met a Quechua woman with this baby vicuña. Vicuña are normally wild, and in Chile it is still illegal to sell vicuña fabric. Here in Peru, however, it is legal, and in Puno you can purchase a vicuña scarf for a mere $430 US.