Puno was the territory de the Tiahuanacos (800 A.D. – 1200 A.D.) who were the highest cultural expression de the Aymara people that established themselves in what is today Peru and Bolivia. The Incas took over these lands in the fifteenth century, and the Spanish, attracted by the mining industry developed there, left an important Colonial legacy throughout the entire area.

Today, the city de Puno (3,287 masl), which lies on the shores de Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, is the folklore capital de Peru and the site de the Feast de the Virgen de la Candelaria. In the outskirts, you can visit the spectacular Chullpas de Sillustani, a complex de impressive burial towers built by the Kollas, Juli, famous for its beautiful Colonial churches, Lampa with its vice royal church built between 1675 and 1685, Llachon, a community that still maintains its centuries old customs and cultural expressions, and Pucara, known for its pre-Inca pottery and for the “toritos de Pucara” that the artisans de today create from clay.


The lake contains numerous islands whose inhabitants continue to live as their ancestors have in custom and tradition. The Uros an example de this; this people group lives on “floating islands” that they have artificially made entirely de totora reeds, and they navigate in their traditional boats also made out de totora reeds. Taquile, Suasi, and Amantani are knows for their kindness de their residents, their ancestral skill in weaving, their pre-Columbian constructions, and lovely countryside. The Titicaca National Reserve (36,180 hectares) protects extensive stretches de totora reeds and various species de plants and animals.