CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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 288 km to Cusco; allow about 5 h 44 of riding. The stops in between: Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana, Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N, Segment Machaqmarka-Raqchi-Qquea and back through Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Cusco's main square is built around a simple trick of scale. In Inca times it was a vast open space, called Huacaypata, where armies gathered and ceremonies took place. The Spanish cut it down to the present plaza, lined it with arcades and placed the Cathedral on one side, where it sits on the foundations of an Inca palace. On the opposite flank stands the Jesuit church of La Compañía, whose richly carved facade was designed to outdo the neighbouring cathedral, and legend says the bishop complained to the pope about it.
Read the complete Main Square and Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Main Square and Historic Centre is where the day begins. Next is Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana.
South-east of Cusco, the Vilcanota valley narrows at a place called Rumicolca, and a massive stone gateway stands across the old road. Built originally by the Wari, the empire that preceded the Inca, as part of an aqueduct, and later converted by the Inca into a controlled entrance to the Cusco valley, the gateway of Rumicolca marked the checkpoint where travellers and goods were inspected. The segment of the Qhapaq Ñan between Rumicolca and Chuspitacana is part of the Andean road system inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2014, and its stones still carry the marks of the people who walked it.
Read the complete Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N.
South of Cusco, the Vilcanota River runs through a broad, fertile valley flanked by high mountains, and along it ran one of the most important stretches of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road system that linked an empire stretching from Ecuador to Chile. The route from Cusco to Lake Titicaca followed this valley, and sections of the original road, some paved with stone, some cut into the hillside, still survive. The segment between Cusipata and Santa Cruz de Occobamba went onto the World Heritage list in 2014 as one strand of the Qhapaq Ñan.
Read the complete Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 107 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N. Next is Segment Machaqmarka-Raqchi-Qquea.
The Vilcanota valley south of Cusco is the old highway of the Andes, and the Inca road ran along it towards Lake Titicaca and the southern provinces of the empire. The segment between Machaqmarka, Raqchi and Qquea is one of the sections of the Qhapaq Ñan listed by UNESCO, and it passes one of the most impressive Inca sites outside Cusco. At Raqchi, near San Pedro de Cacha, the Temple of Wiracocha, dedicated to the creator god, was an enormous building with a central wall of stone and adobe that still rises around fifteen metres high, flanked by rows of columns. Around it are the remains of storehouses, the round qollqas, lined up in rows, houses, baths and fountains, and a lava field from the nearby volcano of Kinsach'ata, which according to legend erupted when Wiracocha passed by. The village holds a festival in June, with music and dancing.
Read the complete Segment Machaqmarka-Raqchi-Qquea write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Machaqmarka-Raqchi-Qquea, about halfway. Next is back through Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N sits at 189 km, about halfway. Next is back through Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana comes up about 248 km into the recorded legs. Next is Main Square and Historic Centre.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Main Square and Historic Centre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Main Square and Historic Centre closes the day.
Main Square and Historic Centre → Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana → Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N → Segment Machaqmarka-Raqchi-Qquea is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Machaqmarka-Raqchi-Qquea → back through Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Cusipata-Santa Cruz de Occobamba N → back through Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana → Main Square and Historic Centre is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.