Just 34 km south of Puno, the peninsula of Sillustani juts into the calm waters of Lake Umayo — and rising from it, a skyline of cylindrical stone towers unlike anything else on the altiplano.

This afternoon tour lasts for 4h in total, making it an ideal add-on for days when you've already done the lake in the morning, or as a standalone introduction to the pre-Inca cultures of southern Peru.

At the site, your bilingual guide (English/Spanish) walks you through the chullpas — funerary towers built by the Colla and Tiahuanaco cultures, later expanded under the Inca Empire. Some reach 12 metres in height, their carefully fitted stone courses still intact after centuries of altiplano weather. The towers face east — a deliberate orientation towards the rising sun and the Andean solar deity — and once held the remains of nobles and priests alongside their funerary offerings. The guide brings this context to life in a way that the stonework alone can't fully convey.

The setting adds its own weight to the visit. Sillustani sits on a narrow peninsula with panoramic views of Lake Umayo and the surrounding mountain ranges — the kind of landscape that makes it easy to understand why ancient cultures chose this particular spot for their most important burials. Along the paths, llamas and alpacas graze freely, and a small nearby rural community offers a glimpse into the agricultural traditions that have shaped this corner of the Andes for generations.

The tour returns to Puno as the late afternoon light settles over the lagoon.