Viva El Perú!

Ahhh, I’m back in Peru! I don’t know what it is about this country, but I just love it. I couldn't stop smiling when I landed in Lima, for my connection. It just feels so familiar, and welcoming and warm.

I spent 2 weeks here this summer, and since I’m already feeling a bit pushed for time, I’d originally planned to head straight from Ecuador to Bolivia. However the cost of flying into La Paz, Bolivia was twice that of flying into Juliaca, Peru (3hrs from the Bolivian border), so I guess something was telling me to come back to this beautiful country. It also meant I’d have the chance to visit the islands of Lake Titicaca, which I hadn’t had time for during my last trip.

So here I am, in Puno, which is a relatively uninteresting city but for some reason I really like it! It feels a bit like an Asian city: noisy and chaotic and many of the roads are too narrow for cars so its swarming with tuk-tuks.

Puno is also at an elevation of 3800m above sea-level, and I’d flown here from sea-level, which is not really advised, so I took it easy for the first couple of days while my body acclimatised. Again no real problems with the altitude, apart from a touch of light-headedness and being out of breath after climbing one flight of stairs to my room at the hostel!

I did take a half-day trip to Sillustani: an archaeological site scattered with chullpas, or stone tombs, mostly built by the Colla people (an Aymara-speaking tribe that dominated the Titicaca region before the arrival of the Inca in the 15th century). The tombs look like towers and widen as they go up. The Colla built long stone ramps to raise the heavier stones to the top.

Chullpa at Sillustani

The inside of the tombs are shaped like a woman's uterus and corpses were buried in the fetal position, so that they’d be ready for re-birth. The only openings to the buildings face east, where it was believed the Sun was reborn by Mother Earth each day.

The inner "uterus" of the tomb

The route to Sillustani took us past many small villages on the altiplano and our guide told us about life here. There’s no divorce in this culture. Before getting married, couples must live together for 3 years and if they’re still together at the end of it they can marry. There’s one wedding celebration in the village each year and all of the couples who want to marry that year, must marry on this one date. The celebrations last seven days. 

On our way back we visited one of the houses to see how the people live, and to take some touristy-y photos with llamas (I didn’t bother). Many of the houses here have 2 little ceramic bulls on top. These Toritos de Pucara are placed on the roof of a new house to bless the home and bring happiness, wealth and fertility to the family that lives there. I bought a couple when I got back to Puno!

Toritos de Pucara, on the roof of a village house

I've never thought of myself as being particularly spiritual, but something about the spirituality of the Peruvian people draws me in. Worshipping the sun and the earth and the mountains makes sense to me in some ways! I like how the Quechua people of today have maintained their indigenous customs, but also incorporated many of the Catholic customs introduced by the Spanish, essentially creating their own unique culture. For example, my guide on the Inca Trail this year attends Catholic Mass, but also makes offerings to the mountains, and to Pachamama (Mother Earth). They celebrate Christmas and Easter, but also Inti Rayma, the winter solstice. There's a very strong sense of Quechua/ Inca pride here in Peru and you can see evidence of their traditions and beliefs everywhere you look. Perhaps this is another reason why I find this country so captivating.

The altiplano