This lovely Andean town has an incredible jewel of the architecture
dating back to the seventeenth century known as the Sistine Chapel, with an impressive work covered in gold leaf and paintings of the art school of Cusco.
There is a fascinating artwork inside the Church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas,
ceilings and walls decorated in a Baroque style, many of them belong to the
Peruvian painter Luis de Reaño. Definitely,
it should be a must in your travel bucket list.
The bus ride
continues, for one hour and a half, until reach the archaeological site of Raqchi, our second stop located at 3,450
meters above sea level. The temple of
Wiracocha was built next to the Vilcanota River during the fifteenth century
and, currently, it has huge walls that belonged to temples, as well as
aqueducts and tombs.
In this place, there are circular storehouses known as Colcas. Them were used to hold different kind
of grains such as quinoa, potato, corn, among others. Another interesting fact
is that Raqchi is part of the incredible Inca
Trail.
The tour to Puno by
bus continues until we reach the city
of Sicuani to enjoy a buffet lunch
in a local restaurant, that offers local and regional dishes, vegetables,
desserts and hot drinks like mate de coca.
After lunch and a travel of 40 minutes by bus, we are going
to reach the highest point of the tour called La Raya Pass, situated at 4,335 meters above sea level. This is the
border of the cities of Cusco and Puno,
and here, we are going to make a short stop to admire the snow-capped Chimboya
and take pictures of beautiful landscapes.
The next and the last visit will be at Museum of Pucara, after a trip of more than an hour from La Raya
pass. This museum has an excellent collection of monoliths, stone sculptures
and ceramics belonging to the culture of
Pucara, a civilization developed in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia.
At the end, we will take the tourist bus to travel for two
more hours towards the city of Puno.
Along the way you will be able to admire landscapes of the heart of the Andes,
passing through the city of Juliaca,
until we arrive at the bus station of
Puno at 05:00 p.m.
Take note that the route
from Puno to Cusco is the same, the order of the tour is the opposite.