After my trip la Puerta de Hayu Marka with my new friend Molly, I had planned on spending the following day catching up on my work. But Molly was up for another adventure (and so was I), so we decided to travel to nearby Cutimbo (a table-topped volcanic hill surrounded by a massive green plain) and check out the chullpas (ancient Andean burial towers) that sit on top of the impressive mound.

To get to Cutimbo, Molly and I first had to find the correct combi pick-up point, which proved to be somewhat difficult. The combi vans were in a remote corner of Puno and we went back and forth several times before finding the correct area.

On the bus, we traveled for a little over 20 kilometers south of Puno and after making several stops along the way to let off the local villagers, we got off ourselves and began the breathless climb to the top of the volcanic hill.

Once we were nearly at the top there was a small trail that broke off from the main trail and we followed it until we discovered a small cave filled with petroglyphs and human remains. The cave drawings consisted of numerous human and animal figures… and there was one drawing that both Molly and I agreed looked a whole lot like a UFO abducting a human being.

After some time at the cave, we climbed to the top of the hill and began exploring the three large chullpas that we found there. The largest one was square, had a small opening on the front side (which both Molly and I climbed inside), and was covered with numerous carvings of snakes.

Below is the backside of the largest funeral tower. If you look closely, you can see one of the large carved snakes on one of the stones at about a 45 degree angle to the left of my head.

The image at the top of this post is one of the large round towers. This particular tower had a carving of a puma and what appeared to be two monkeys at its entrance.

It was impressive just how large the stones were… and just how well they matched up with one another.

Do you see the pile of stones on the right-hand side of the image above? Those stones are part of a ramp that was used to build these large and impressive structures.

Also at the top of the mesa were a number of horses and a small donkey (which you will see in a moment). The views from up top were quite impressive and I took a couple hundred photos.

After wandering around the top of the large volcanic mesa, Molly and I descended to the road below and walked about 2 kms back toward the direction of Puno.

There we found a large collection of moon-like volcanic rocks jutting from the earth… and from this vantage point we could look back on the large hill we had climbed just a couple hours before.

We walked around the volcanic tundra for some time while discussing our favorite movies, high school experiences, and our thoughts on Peru. But as the clouds moved in and it began to get cold, Molly and I hiked back to the road, hitched a ride in a super-crowded combi van (I sat up front with the driver’s joy-stick between my legs) and returned to our hostel in Puno, Peru.