Chincana Ruins & Titi Khar'ka

Lonely Planet review

The main feature of Isla del Sol's most spectacular ruins complex is the Palacio del Inca, a maze of stone walls and tiny doorways, also known as El Laberinto (the Labyrinth) or by its Aymará name, Inkanakan Utapa. Within the labyrinth there is a small well, believed by Inca pilgrims to contain sacred water with which they would purify themselves.

About 150m southeast of the ruins is the Mesa Ceremónica (Ceremonial Table). It's thought to have been the site of human and animal sacrifice. East of the table stretches the large rock known as Titicaca - or more accurately, Titi Khar'ka, the Rock of the Puma - which is featured in the Inca creation legend. The name is likely to derive from its shape which, when viewed from the southeast, resembles a crouching puma.

In the surface stone immediately south of the rock you'll pass the Huellas del Sol (Footprints of the Sun). These natural markings resemble footprints and have inspired the notion that they were made by the sun after its birth on Titi Khar'ka.