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She has become one of my fave Sasha's...the rose gold hair, twinkling eyes and disco threads I love her! <3
...lo que antes pareció ser positivo, ahora puede volverse negativo...
y lo negativo ser positivo...
Funerary towers used by pre-Inca Collas Aymara-speaking cultures sit on a hilltop rising above the altiplano and Lake Umayo about 4000m above sea level. Be warned. If you have flown here direct from sea level at Lima be prepared for a slow climb up to the ruins, breathlessness and life at a wholly different pace. The air here is thin!
What we see today may not be original tombs. It is entirely possible that they were adopted by, modified and used by the Inca. This is a top spot if you want to live on the altiplano so why wouldn't they? A perennial lake is a handy water supply for a dry high altitude location. The edge of Lake Umayo is crossed by long ridges built up so that the water from the lake can flood up between them to sustain and nurture crops. In other places domestic animals wade into the water and snack on weeds whereas the banks of the lake are dry, bare and barren. This is life on the edge but understandably better than the alternative which might see you up the hill in one of the stone-built tombs!
This is a bit of a tourist trap. But where in Peru isn't now? My guide spoke English and Spanish, of course. Nevertheless he was proudly Aymara first before anything else. Here the presence of predatory guides and hawkers is less in your face that at nearby Puno which is itself a full order of magnitude less hideous than the parasites in Cusco or the floating islands of Titicaca. This place is a bit like the Faroe Islands. They may now be Faroese, but really, the Vikings never left. The Spanish came here, tried to ruin everything, but failed. When you visit Sillustani or Ollantaytambo you are visiting pre-Conquest, Incan and pre-Incan Peru. Their culture never left. It's up to us to not corrupt what remains.