CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Cusco it runs 547 km to Cusco; allow about 13 h 38 of riding. On the way it passes Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi, Segment Kintama-Tawis and back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 62 km this is Sacred Valley Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
The Incas laid Cuzco out in the shape of a puma, they say, with the fortress of Sacsayhuamán as the head and the Tullumayo stream running along the spine, and while archaeologists argue about how literally to take the story, the city's plan still shows how seriously they took their capital. The name Qosqo means navel in Quechua, a statement of cosmology as much as geography: from here the empire's four quarters, the Tawantinsuyu, spread out in all directions.
Read the complete City of Cuzco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
City of Cuzco is where the day begins. Next is Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi.
Above Ollantaytambo, where the Sacred Valley of the Incas narrows, a side valley climbs north toward the high passes of the Urubamba range, following the Patacancha river. The segment between Patacancha and Huacahuasi is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road system, and it crosses some of the most beautiful country in the Cusco region: steep slopes covered with potato fields and terraces, small villages of stone and adobe houses, herds of llamas and alpacas grazing in high pastures, and snow-capped peaks above. The communities of this area, like Patacancha and Huacahuasi, are known for their weaving, with intricate designs and bright colours, and the women's traditional dress is among the most striking in the Andes.
Read the complete Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi comes up 62 km in. Next is Segment Kintama-Tawis.
The Inca built a road network that stretched some thirty thousand kilometres along the Andes, from southern Colombia to central Chile, and much of it still exists as stone paths, staircases and causeways through the mountains. The Qhapaq Ñan, as it is called, was listed by UNESCO in 2014 as a set of segments across six countries. The Kintama-Tawis segment lies in the mountains north of the Sacred Valley of Cusco, in the high country between the valley and the cloud forests that descend toward the Amazon and the Manú national park.
Read the complete Segment Kintama-Tawis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
123 km in you reach Segment Kintama-Tawis. Next is back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi, late in the day. Next is City of Cuzco.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete City of Cuzco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at City of Cuzco. That is the ride.
City of Cuzco → Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi → Segment Kintama-Tawis is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Kintama-Tawis → back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Patacancha-Huacahuasi → City of Cuzco is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.