After visiting Andahuaylillas and Raqchi we continued driving South East of Cuzco, on the road leading toward Puno, there we arrived at the Pueblo Of Pucará, sometimes spelled Pukara, approximately 80km. northwest of Lake Titicaca, at Km. 106 of the Puno- Cuzco highway. Pucará is a quiet pueblo of a few thousand residents. The Plaza de Armas contains a beautiful colonial church containing a large mural of the Jatun Ñak'aq, El Gran Degollador (or Decapitator), with a typical Pucará ceramic bull. The Museo Lítico de Pukara is located just off the Plaza de Armas, on the road that leads to the archaeological site. Small restaurants, stores, and an artesanía shop are located just off of the Plaza. Pucará is famous for it's ceramic production, a tradition dating back at least 2500 years. The most famous of it's ceramic figurines are the Pucará bulls or toritos; which can be found found throughout the altiplano on the roofs of houses to bring luck and fertility. Even though it is said that Pukara is where the tradition of torito production began; the real source of the the torito production is in the community of Checa Pupuja in the district of Santiago de Pupuja. Walking through town one can see hornos (ovens) from the Republican Period and if you look closely, just about every adobe wall in town is full of pottery sherds from over the thousands of years of the town's occupation. Pottery production, is not performed during the entire year and many Pucareños tend herds of camelids (llamas and alpacas) and cattle in and near the pueblo. There are crops grown in this area, mostly tubers and quinua. Evidence of ancient raised fields across the pampas can still be seen. Many families own homes in Pucará as well as smaller homes in the campo for tending their fields and animals. We visited this ruins on April 19, 2006 at about 8:30 AM and again on April 21, at about 10:00 AM.

Since this trip is near Juliaca City, & Puno Peru; you have two choices of airports when planning to make the trip. One choice is Cusco, the other is Juliaca. The Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (IATA: CUZ, ICAO: SPZO) is located in the city of Cusco, a city in southeastern Peru. Cusco, a principal tourist attraction in Latin America, receives various domestic flights as well as some international flights. Or you can fly into the Inca Manco Cápac International Airport (IATA: JUL, ICAO: SPJL), known as Aeropuerto Internacional Inca Manco Cápac in Spanish, located in the city of Juliaca, thirty minutes from the city of Puno at Titicaca Lake. It is run by CORPAC S.A. (Corporación Peruana de Aeropuertos y Aviación Comercial S.A.), a government-run organization that oversees the management of Peruvian airports. Its runway is the longest in Latin America. While it is called International; it does not serve international flights! You can fly into Peru to the international airports located at Lima, Arequipa and Cusco. Then you can be flown into the Inca Manco Cápac International Airport. Then, you could stay at Juliaca or you can be transported from the airport of Juliaca, to the town of Puno in a taxi; with an average cost of about US $20; or in a minibuse, with an average cost of about US $5 per person. The leading hotels in Puno have transportation back to the airport. There are several Guided Tour Agencies offering standard city and archaeological tours of the areas of both Cusco, Puno, and Juliaca. Pucará is close to Juliaca so either Puno or Juliaca would be your best place to have a hotel. This page is for information purposes only and while we have made every effort to be accurate, it is the travelers responsibility to make the appropriate choice as to which hotels to use in Peru. We found that when touring Peru, Magical Cusco Tours gave us the best service of all. They even arranged very personal tours based upon our ages and experience. They were there for us whenever we needed them. Click on any of their links on our pages and they will give you a 4% discount for taking their package tours. Mention delange.org. Merchant Code Inka2010 for your discount! We suggest letting Ana Maria handle your tour. Note: The 4% discount applies to package tours only! Discount does not apply to hotel bookings, domestic or international tickets, meals or any other service booked as a single activity. Magical Cusco Tours also has a culinary tour that you may enjoy.Click Here For: Taste Of Peru.com their culinary tour page. It is advisable to book reservations ahead of time, as hotels, especially in high season, are quickly booked up. We also have links to Priceline.Com on our pages, in case you may prefer to use their services.