The ancient Sillustani archaeological site is one of the most dramatic and unusual ruins in the Puno region of Peru. Once a burial ground for pre-Inca cultures, and then the Incas themselves, Sillustani is home to impressive tower-like structures called "chullpas", which served as tombs for people of noble birth or high rank.
The Qulla people were an indigenous group that lived in western Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina for many centuries. They were an Aymara-speaking people and were conquered by the Incas in the 15th century. Colonial evidence at the time describes the Qulla as a highly centralized society.
Veneration of the dead was an integral part of Qulla culture, and this was celebrated in this graveyard by the construction of a “chullpa”. A chullpa is a circular funeral tower made from large bricks; the tallest of these centuries-old towers stands around 12 meters high. The height and size of these towers increased with the importance of the people who were buried inside. Ancestral worship was an important part of Aymara culture, and these round towers were built to facilitate the connection between this world and the next. Each tower not only contained the mummified body of the deceased, there was also the presence of valuable possessions like gold, silver, ceramics, and even food to take with them to the next world.
This Sillutani tour from Puno will take you to this impressive archaeological site close to the Bolivian border!
There are dozens of chullpas, around 90 in total, and thousands more semi-subterranean tombs at Sillustani. Some academics believe that, following the collapse of Tiwanaku around 1000 AD, Sillustani became “the most prominent pilgrimage center in the Titicaca Basin. However, even so, not a lot is known about the site or the people who were buried here. The chullpas are not only found here, however. They can be found across the whole south Central Andes.
While chullpas are not unique to Sillustani and are found across the Southern region of Peru and into Bolivia, this site is considered one of the best and most well-preserved examples of this form of burial tower. A large ramp on one of the chullpas demonstrates how stones would have been stacked upon the walls during construction.
Join us as we explore the incredible Sillustani Tombs, an archaeological site that is also blessed with amazing views across the beautiful Umayo Lake. Lake Umayo used to form part of Lake Titicaca thousands of years ago. Today this lake fills up in the rainy season and drains in the dry season reaching a maximum depth of 27m./ 88ft. Its main feature today is a small island in the middle of the lake. The islandis ctually a nature reserve home to vicuñas, vizcachas and a nuber of hummingbird species. Book your Sillustani Tour from Puno with Valencia Travel Cusco!
Fire away with your questions and snag some tailor-made wisdom from our experts to make your adventure epic!
Our Sillustani archaeological excursion begins in the morning when we pick you up from your hotel in Puno. From here, it’s a 45-minute drive to the amazing royal tombs of Sillustani. On arrival, you’ll have plenty of time to explore Sillustani with your knowledgeable local guide. You’ll see all the spectacular chullpas, which display contrasting pre-Columbian architectural styles from civilizations such as the Pucara, Tiahuanaco, Ccolla, and the Incas.
Made of stones weighing up to six tons, many of which are perfectly aligned with one another, these funerary towers are very impressive. The largest Sillustani tower took around 50 years to complete. There are more than 90 structures in total, some small and some very large. Mummified bodies were buried inside the funerary towers, and placed in a fetal position along with various possessions that would accompany them to the afterlife. The small entranceways into the towers were aligned towards the sunrise, helping the spirits of the deceased travel to the Sun God.
During our Sillustani trip, we’ll also see the Waru Warus, the Aymara term for an agricultural technique developed by pre-Hispanic people in the Andes. These consist of parallel canals positioned in between raised planting beds, which were strategically built on the floodplains near a water source so that the fields could be properly irrigated. We’ll also see the typical structures built by rural farmers today, including their small houses and corrals for llamas, alpacas, and sheep.
After fully exploring Sillustani and taking in the stunning views, of Lake Titicaca and Lake Umayu, we’ll head back to Puno. We should arrive at around midday, at which point we’ll drop you off at your hotel.
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Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
Valencia Travel was amazing to work with, and I would highly recommend them for any new travelers. Special thanks again to Andes (guide) , Maria (agent/coordinator) , and Washington (driver) . Thank you for making this a trip to remember for a lifetime.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
We truly had an incredle experience from booking with Maria, to meeting Miguel upon arrival at the airport, and of course trekking with our incredible guide Aldo and the amazing porters who helped make trekking much more comfortable and luxurious than we're used to. We couldn't believe the 3 course meals they cooked up. Truly blew us away.
The trek itself is incredible as you're able to see so many Inca sites along the way before arriving to Macchupicchu. The mountain range was beautiful.
Aldo our guide was the best! He was very information and taught us so much about the incas and knew so much about all the trees, wildlife, and fauna we saw along the trek. He's been guiding for many years and thanks to his experience and forethought we managed to catch amazing views away from the other groups of trekkers and were the first to arrive to Macchupicchu making for an even more private experience. I highly recommend Aldo!
Valencia travel is a local company that supports all the locals they employ. I highly recommend them for any bookings!
**tip: definitely give yourself 3 days in Cusco before hiking in order to acclimate to the altitude. We saw a couple turn around due to issues with altitude.
The Porters and Chef Filex were exceptional and went above and beyond with all our needs.
I was surprised with a Birthday Cake on our hike, and I had no idea someone could make and decorate a cake in a tent.
It was incredibly mind-blowing.
I highly recommend them to anyone looking to do the Inca Trail.
We are extremely pleased with the service we received.
I give them A++++++
Un’altro aspetto importante è stata la guida per Macchu Picchu, Washington! Super appassionato del posto e della storia, vi coninvolgerà con i suoi racconti e le sue spiegazioni. E’ davvero una guida molto esperta e professionale!
Thank you for such a brilliant trek!
Our chef, Gregorio, "Goyo", had the best food of all of our Peru!! the culinary expertise of this guy whom planned a menu according to our hike plan, carbs and proteins, and we had plenty.. .I mean plenty to eat. The porters (all 10), with leads from Climico, and special mention to Fortunato who would met us at the end of the trail to help carry our personal packs to our porters applauding our days hard accomplishment. Along the entire trail, Wilbur encouraging the porter of other competitors as his "little brother" to continue to be strong as they quickly passed us on the trail. My respect to the team of Valencia Travel, the porters, head chef and his assistant and mostly to Wilbur for delivering an experience that I encourage anyone to participate in. Thank you Wilbur. we the 7 women from California, USA will forever be your "Flowers".
There were some challenges communicating with the office staff with some questions we had before the trek and booking it, though once we had our meeting with Guillermo it was all sorted out.
After a lot of research, Valencia Travel appeared as the most qualitative and professional agency organizing the excursions we wanted to take part in. We signed in for day trip to the rainbow mountain and had an amazing experience. The guide spoke English and shared a lot of interesting facts with us, the food was delicious and the general activity was perfectly organisez.
Thanks to this very positive experience, we decided to do the 4 days Lares Trail to Machu Picchu with Valencia Travel. Waouw. We spent the 4 days talking about how impressed we were about the professionalism of the agency. The trek was wonderful, the nature breathtaking but the most impressive part was the service, the kindness of the staff, their organisation,… Everything is in the details, the camp are very confortable, they even bring you tea in your tent to wake you up in the morning!
The food was beyond expectations. At every meal, we had a salad, a soup, a main dish and once we even had a cake that they baked in the tents! Being vegan, we are always a bit scared that it could be a problem for trekkings, but with Valencia it is not at all! We had some of the best foods of our trip during our trekking!
I am so happy that we did the Lares trekking with Valencia as there is no better way to reach the sacred site of Machu Picchu than by doing a trekking in the nature. It is a very special place and trekking to reach it definitely add some magic to the experience!
To conclude, I would highly recommend Valencia for any activities in Peru, it will make your experience unforgettable!!
At 55 and with a helpful dose of camaraderie from my younger trek-mates, including my 16 year-old niece who managed the ascents and descents with aplomb, I felt a sense of accomplishment in completing the trek, which is more vertical than horizontal and ranges from about 9,000 to 12,000 feet over three days. Hiking the trail does require above-average fitness for the middle-aged. No unmanageable parts but a walking stick, reliable shoes, dependable leg muscles and accommodating joints, a relatively light backpack of essentials, and stops along the way to gulp down the thin air, take in the jaw-dropping vistas, pause for passing porters, and make way for grazing llamas—all are required to push through. So is a large reserve of self-deprecation. Alex and other minders were more than indulgent while keeping us all on the move.
Reaching Machu Picchu at the end was paradoxically awe-inspiring and anti-climatic given the splendor of the journey to get there. At the end of it, getting on the train that deposits and returns the vast majority of visitors in the space of a day, I simply couldn’t imagine seeing Machu Picchu without doing the trek.
If you are hiking the Inca Trail I highly recommend to go through Valencia Travel. Ask to have Elistan as your guide. The porters are treated very well. They have good hiking shoes, and attire to wear. (though if they could get backpacks that include waist straps I think that would be great!). Ask for Luis to be your cook. I have never eaten so well on a vacation. Luis is amazing at what he can cook up on the trail, we are talking three course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the food is presented as if it was at a 5 star hotel. Incredible!!!
My only other desire is if Valencia offered a Recipe Book of the meals eaten on the trail. I would totally purchase such a piece of "gold".
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