Puno is a hillside city located on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Travelers stop by Puno in order to visit the lake’s islands or to cross the border into Bolivia.

You can reach the sacred pre-Inca Sillustani Chullpas, or burial towers, in about 45 minutes by car from Puno. These structures, the final resting place for noble mummies awaiting rebirth, populate a burial ground located on a cold hilltop overlooking Lake Umayo. The circular towers are wider on top than on bottom, making them unique in South America. Another popular site are the ruins of Inca Uyo (Aymara for Place of the Inca), which date to after the Inca Conquest of the Lupaka Kingdom of Tiahuanaku. Inside of the ceremonial complex you´ll find many phallic stones 2-3ft high arranged upright like mushrooms. Though both temple and stones are authentic, the placement of the stones inside the temple was a municipal decision, which has led to the site´s as yet unproven presentation as a fertility temple where virgins sat atop large stone phalluses.