Hiking Off the Beaten Path to Huchuy Qosqo

“How high is this hike again?” I asked, panting along the mountain trail. The summit seemed far apart.

“12,0000 feet,” he and others said cheerfully. Amazonas Explorers The office slid down the trail. “But it will soon be flattened!” he added as a bit of encouragement.

I was skeptical.

When I first contacted Amazonas My Machu Picchu hikeI asked them to choose a route that was a little further away from the beaten path. After all, Sacred Valley has plenty of options. The Incas built more than 40,000 kilometers of roads through the empire, and many of them became hiking trails.

The selected day hike traveled less than others, and took me to an archaeological site called Huchuy Qosqo (Quechua’s “Little Cusco”). Spend an hour outside Cusco in a small village in Taucca, cross several mountains, through a fun valley filled with abandoned villages and Inca ruins before reaching your final destination, Huchuy Qosqo Bring the wind over the ridge.

Starting from the village, we hiked straight to the first waypoint. We were at the highest altitude of my life (higher than Machu Picchu) until now, and despite being in the area for a week, I was feeling it. . Thankfully, the sky was cloudy and the sun was hidden, and the gentle breeze kept me cool.

However, frequent stops made it easier to understand the scenery around me. The more we go, the better we can see the land below and the mountains around us. At this altitude, it hasn’t grown much. And what was like a barren, dry landscape reminded me of the plains of Wyoming. Tongarirro hiking in New Zealand. The rough mountains unfolded as far as we could see, and below us were villages and farms.

“The lake in front of town is part of a hydroelectric dam,” Efren said. “Most people here are farmers, mostly because of the local markets and potatoes. The big farms that export food to buy in the US are located elsewhere in the valley.”

After the first trail marker (actually just the electric pole marking the first stop), the trail flattened a bit, and we began a deep conversation about eating with Patrice, one of the Amazonas employees. She lived in the US so we discussed the quality of the food. Peru Against the United States. (She felt it was better because Peruvian food was unprocessed. It was difficult to object.)

“All the food you call it superfood and spend a lot of money on is just food. We’ve been eating it since the Incas.”

As we continued our way beyond the arid spread, it became more mountainous, but the trail continued to what appeared to be a remnant of the valley. The path began to gently slop downwards, where trees and flowers began to appear, lengthening the walls and foundations of the ancient Incas. Soon we came across a largely abandoned village made from collapsed mud structures and caves of straw roofs.

Villages like this are common throughout the region where people live a self-sufficient lifestyle. However, when the young people move to the city they die, leaving most of the structures in various devastation. Efrain said there are few families remaining in the community. The only people we’ve seen all along were two women in traditional clothing crowding goats.

At the end of the village we came across what Efren described as the guard house of the old Incas. There we stopped by for lunch near a small waterfall and saw a female goat grazing right in front of our eyes, and we all enjoyed our own meals.

We’ve got active after we eat about the Westerners who come to Peru for the Ayahuasca ritual, and about how they don’t always incorporate spiritual essence, but just want to be high. After a discussion, we continued the entrance and exit of the ancient Incan that led to the final part of the trekking to Huchuy Qosqo.

“This was probably a military security guard,” Efren explained as we walked through it and descended a series of stairs into the canyon. “These structures were used to protect people within the canyon, allowing us to track numbers and ensure that everyone has enough food. The Incas are a great counter and food supply. We underwent a detailed census to ensure that we have been in place.”

As we traced the paths and small rivers that emerged from the waterfalls for lunch, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by joy. I had a great day from my entire trip to Peru. The Machu Picchu and the trekking were very special, but this felt even more. The view was spectacular. I took a peek into country life and traditional outfits. We were the only people on the trail and the trekking felt special.

Efren pointed out an old Inca stone terrace as we followed the trail. It eventually spread out and allowed us to see the beginning of the sacred valley. Suddenly I walked to a steep slope. We thought we were slowly descending to the foot of the mountain, but we were still thousands of feet above the valley floor!

After staring at the valley, we headed across the Incan terrace, lined up against the mountain walls, towards Huchuy qosqo. I’ve always been amazed at how they changed this place, moving underground watering paths, irrigation systems and stairs between terraces. The food grown here would have fed the surrounding area and huchuy qosqo.

We entered a ruined city through the old gates. Little is known about Huchuy Qosqo, but according to the records we have, it is here after his youngest son, Pachacuti, won a decisive victory over those who rebel against his father. It was home to Viracocha, the ruler of the Incas in exile.

After the battle, Pachakti declared himself king and father, and his father spent his days in huchuy Qosqo. I’m familiar with today). After the collapse of the Inca Empire, it was eventually attacked and used by the Spanish, who destroyed most of the buildings in 1534.

Like the rest of the trail, we were the only one on the site other than the security guards. We didn’t stay long as the site was as impressive as the trip there. I was tired and ready to go back to Cusco.

We gathered our fellow hikers and started heading down the mountain. Through a series of sudden switchbacks, numbers were on my lap at the actual bottom of the canyon, where our driver picked us up.

“What an incredible hike!” I cried out on my ride.

I stared at the window in the passing village and saw a huge smile on my face. This hike was my favorite experience Peru And I was pleased to feel like I was doing something very special as I only had two days left in this country.

How to hike to Huchuy Qosqo

You can go by your guide or yourself, but I won’t advise the latter. You can easily take a taxi from Cusco to the starting point and grab the bus at the endpoint, but finding the trail becomes difficult (especially disappears at first). Even Huchuy Qosqo has no indication of what you are seeing, the landscape, or the history of the ruins. If you want context, you need a guide. Like Machu Picchu, I went with him Amazonas Explorer.

Notes: Remove sunscreen! I returned to the hotel and it was clear. Lobster isn’t even redder than me. I forgot because the sunscreen was cloudy and rainy and I didn’t feel the sun, but at this altitude, the UV rays were very strong and I paid the price. Don’t be like me!