Visit Puno: The Folkloric Capital of Peru

The floating Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca, a beautiful sight of colorful and vibrant village that floats on layers made up of green totora reeds and blocks of mud! With over 100 islands in Uros, each island can house up to 10 families and are secured together using ropes and anchored by eucalyptus tree trunks!

Uros people are dressed up in colorful garments while in Capachica, women's hats are considered to be the most attractive attire!

Set between Peru and Bolivia, the fabled Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable water body in the world. Believed to be the birthplace of Sun (as per Andean Belief), this deep-blue lake can be best explored by taking group tours to the Uros Islands.

If you wish to stay a little longer at the Lake, then consider spending time at the local home-stays to get a culturally enriching experience. For more isolated stays, you may visit the Island of Anapia where the local community runs a tour program that promotes the preservation of their local culture.

The textiles of Taquile Island that are famous all over the world, are in reality weaved by men! The women in the region traditionally work on the weaving while the more delicate work i.e knitting is done by men. The 2000-resident island is a tourist spot for the island's beauty and the traditional Spanish garments!

You can learn to make traditional shampoo (using the island's indigenous plants), take a fishing ride, learn a trick or two of knitting from the men and go hiking!

In Taquile, men wear calf-length black pants, white shirts coupled with colorful wrist bands. Interestingly, men's marital status is known from the color of their woolen hats or chullos - married men wear red hats while single men wear white and red hats! Women wear layered skirts, headdresses and shawls!

This Church is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Puno that was built in the 17th century by the Peruvian builder Simón de Asto. There are various artworks inside the Cathedral as well as on the façade that are of great interest to visitors.

The ancient pre-Incan burial ground, Siluststani built on the shores of Lake Umayo, is about an hour's drive from Puno. The chullpa (tower-like structure) are the tombs which were built above ground and are said to have remains of complete family groups.

Though there's nothing left of the burials except the chullpas, one can indulge in some photography in the afternoon while birders can enjoy some rare sightings of Andean water birds like avocets, flamingos, and the like.

Known to be the Land of Flutes, the Qina is the traditionally-used flute amongst other popular ones. Made from a tube of cane or wood, there are 6 holes for the fingers at the front and one for the thumb at the back. There's a notch at one end of the flute.