Huanuco Pampa is a place that makes you feel small. On a high plateau at around 3,700 metres, in the central Peruvian Andes, the Incas built one of their largest administrative centres, on the great highway that ran north from Cusco toward Quito. Archaeologists have counted hundreds of storehouses on the surrounding hillsides, once filled with maize, textiles and weapons, and the ruins of a huge central plaza, with a platform called the usnu from which the Inca or his representative could watch ceremonies. It is part of the Qhapaq Nan, the Andean road system recognised by UNESCO in 2014.
The road itself is the real story. The Incas had no wheels and no horses, but they built some forty thousand kilometres of paved and stepped paths across mountains and deserts, with rest houses and relay runners, so that news could travel hundreds of kilometres a day. The segment that links Huanuco Pampa to Huaricashash is a stretch of that network, with its stone paving and retaining walls still in place on the high grassland. Walking even a short section gives a sense of how carefully it was engineered.
Getting there on a motorbike is an expedition rather than a day ride. The roads that climb to the plateau from the Huallaga and Maranon valleys are rough, narrow and sometimes unpaved, with steep drops, loose stone, and landslides in the rainy season, which runs roughly from December to March. At this altitude, engines lose power and riders lose breath, and the weather swings from fierce sun to hail within an hour. The dry months, from May to September, are the only sensible time to go, and nights can be bitterly cold.
La Unión is the nearest settlement, a small town with basic shops and a few places to eat, while larger towns, such as San Miguel de Cauri, are farther away, and Huanuco city lies a long way down the valleys. Fuel is scarce and sometimes sold from drums, so carry a spare can, plenty of water, and warm clothes. The people here speak Quechua as well as Spanish, and a few words of greeting are warmly received.