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Published: October 5th 2007
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DAY 12: PUNO -
CUSCO After a shower and breakfast I was ready for my guide, Mr. Eduardo Pineda, one of the most popular guides in the area, to pick me up. We started the day’s journey at 5:45 a.m., heading first to Sillustani, located 20 miles from Puno. The entrance ticket to the ruins costs US$ 3.00. I have been before in Puno, but this is another place where I have never been before. On the way there, I watched an amazing sunrise reflecting on a portion of the Titicaca Lake.
I saw another lake in Sillustani with a completely flat island. Some people say that this island is an area where UFO’s land.
Walking around the Inca cemetery there, I found many tombs of the royalty and religious members as well as common people. The most beautiful tombs were those where the royalty were buried, of course. I saw a couple of stones with 12 angles, and Mr. Eduardo told me that it was believed that the tombs where these stones were placed belonged to religious members since the number twelve was an important number for the Incas.
Mr. Eduardo also showed me a stone
with the grip of a Puma, another important god of the Incas. Definitely, it was an interesting place, and I did not spend enough time there, so I will be back next year. At 7:35 a.m. the visit was over and I had to catch up with my tourist bus to
Cusco .
In 15 minutes I arrived at the point where my bus was scheduled to pick me up around 8:00. It was on time, and I sat in my numbered seat which was the only one that was available.
Our first stop was Pukara, located 2 hours from Puno. Here are some pre-Inca ruins and a museum with some of the pre-Inca stone figures that had been taken from the ruins. The museum is small, but I was pretty impressed with the old stone figures. Here you also have a colonial church and, without a doubt, beautiful landscapes.
After 40 minutes, I jumped on the bus to continue the journey. The next stop was La Raya, the highest point between Puno and Cusco, and also the border between Puno and
Cusco . The altitude here is 14,172 feet. This is not high at all if
you have been in the Colca Canyon before. At this point you can buy different handcrafts and look at some beautiful mountains as well as the point where the Vilcanota River starts.
The bus stayed only fifteen minutes in La Raya before continuing for 35 minutes to our next stop, the town of Sicuani. Here we ate lunch, a Peruvian style buffet, which was pretty good and was included on the US$ 35.00 ticket.
At 1:10 p.m. the bus left Sicuani, arriving at 1:30 p.m. at the beautiful town of Raqchi. Here I admired their pretty and small colonial church and also the amazing Inca Temple of Wiracocha with more than 180 buildings and walls as tall as 45 feet. After one hour, our tour guide called us to continue with the trip.
Around 4:00 p.m. the bus arrived at the last tourist stop, a town called Andahuaylillas. This is a pretty famous town in South America because of its colonial church, which is called the “Chapel Sistine of South America” because of all the beautiful art painted on its colonial walls. I had only 30 minutes to visit this marvelous town, so it is another place
where I need to come back.
Our next stop would be
Cusco . During the ride there my thoughts were filled with all the places that I had just visited. It had been an amazing day. Sillustani, Raqchi, Andahuaylillas and the landscape were more than I had expected. It would be impossible to choose a favorite. My thoughts were interrupted when the bus stopped suddenly and did not move for a few minutes. Our guide told us that the street was closed because of a Catholic celebration called “Corpus Christi.” After 20 minutes, the bus took an alternate route and arrived in
Cusco around 6:00 p.m.
At the arrival point, there were a lot of people (transfer guys) with signs showing different last names. My transfer took me to my hotel, located eight or nine blocks away from the main square of
Cusco . I enjoyed the walking every day that I was in
Cusco city. When it was too late at night, around 10:00 p.m., I took a taxi for US$ 1.00.
Once in my hotel, I took a quick shower and then walked to the main square to get something to eat. I
decided to eat a pizza in a small place called “El Mirador”. I love pizzas in Cusco because they are cooked in wood ovens. After eating, I just walked back to my hotel to sleep. I was exhausted!
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