So Puno has turned out to be an awesome town to hang out in! Yesterday afternoon, we hopped onto a tour that was going to nearby Sillustani, a pre-Incan cemetery. It was pretty amazing. The people built these chullpas to house their dead, regardless of class, status, or wealth–although the individuals with more mental power did get the nices towers.
Anyway, this site still has 90-some chullpas hanging out on top of this hill, and our guide walked around and explained them to us. Pretty amazing.
Tomorrow we actually head out to Lake Titicaca to visit the islands of Los Uros and Taquile. Los Uros are these people that were trying to escape enemies, so they used the abundant totora reed to actually build themselves islands. As the reeds disintegrate from the bottom, they add more weavings to the top so they can continuously float around the Lake. Kinda amazing. Taquile is just a traditional island that prides themselves on their weavings, and the men make these long, tightly woven knitted hats–kinda like sleeping caps–that I am going to try to get Steve to buy and wear all the time. Regardless, I am pretty excited to check out the lake, and will try to include pictures soon!
For anyone who wants to check out my newest story in the Enterprise, click here: http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/broomfield_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2495_4440249,00.html
¡Ciao!