Friday, June 12, 2009

I finally got to sleep in, since I had no early tour the nezt morning. But I did take a wonderful afternoon tour to a place called Silhastani. The excellent guide talked about the burial tombs there which unfortunately are wearing away fairly rapldly.

The trip up was not too exciting except for spotting herds of llama and alpaca, and one large cara cara sitting on a post. We also saw small working farms where the curtilege was defined by stone walls, not the smooth stones of the Incas, but much smaller, random-sized rocks piled on top of each other to a height of about 2-3 feet without mortor in most cases.

One set of tombs were ñarge circular structures perhaps 20 feet in diameter that were worn down to a stone or two high and were pre-Inca. Then there were taller. smaller-diameter circular tombs (maybe 10 feet in diameter) that extended up about 30 feet. One was half fallen away and another was being restored. The guide, a young man, considered this a very sacred place, and he said that even though he was Catholic, he felt more and more that the earth was sacred. He was a true environmentalist who wanted people to live in harmony with nature and not continually exploit it.

After looking at the outside of the tombs, we rested on a lake shore that had an island in the middle, the island being a refuge for about 100 of the endangered vicuñas. After resting, we headed back toward our vehicle, passing a woman with a baby vicuña that we could pet and photgraph for a sole (about 33 cents).

On the drive back we stopped at one of the farms and were invited in. We were offered moka (sp??) tea which is a kind of mint and is supposed to be good for stomach and head aches. We were also given potatoes with an edible clay used like we would butter a piece of bread. And finally we tasted some delicious fresh cheese. I asked whether thay make cheese from the llama- and alpaca milk. She said no, but they do use the milk.

Besides the llamas, alpacas, and cows on the farm, they raised guinea pigs which they kept in a small stone circular enclosure with a miniature stone house for the rodents. We all gave a small donation for the food and hospitality. Then, like everywhere else. they had goods to sell. Some of our group made small purchases. I did not since my suitcase is bulging.

After that we headed back to Puno, and for me a relaxed evening as I knew I had to get up by 6 am to catch an early bus to Arequipa.