Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua and Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
257 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 02
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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 Zepita it runs 257 km to Zepita; allow about 5 h 02 of riding. On the way it passes Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca, Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje, Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu and back through Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua
At close to four thousand metres, on the Peruvian shore of Lake Titicaca, the air is thin enough that walking briskly feels like work and the light is so sharp it seems to sharpen the edges of everything. This stretch belongs to the Qhapaq Ñan, the great Andean road network that the Inca built and extended across their empire, and here it runs through Aymara farming country between the towns of Yunguyo and Desaguadero, both about twenty kilometres away, with the Bolivian border a short distance east.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua is where the day begins. Next is Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca.
2. Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca
On the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, between Juli and the Bolivian border, the Inca road ran along the edge of the lake at nearly four thousand metres, linking Cusco with the lands of Collasuyu, the southern quarter of the empire. The Pomata section of the Qhapaq Ñan, part of the World Heritage listing of the Inca road system, follows the shore through Aymara villages, terraced hills and fields of potatoes, quinoa and broad beans, with the immense blue lake always beside you. The light at this altitude is intense, the air thin and dry, and the lake changes colour with every passing cloud.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje.
3. Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje
Juli sits on the south-western shore of Lake Titicaca at close to 3,900 metres, and the air is so thin and clear that the far side of the lake, in Bolivia, seems close enough to touch. The town is nicknamed the Rome of the Americas for its cluster of colonial churches, built by Dominican and Jesuit missionaries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with carved stone façades and dim interiors full of paintings. Just outside town, the segment of Inca road between Juli and Cruz Pata Ccaje is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Andean road system inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2014. This route, the Urcosuyu branch, ran along the lake towards what is now Bolivia.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje. Next is Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu.
4. Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu
Puno sits on the shore of Lake Titicaca at about 3,800 metres, and the stretch between Jayllihuaya and Ichu runs along the edge of town into the open altiplano. Jayllihuaya is a district on the western side of Puno; Ichu is the name of a river and of the tough bunch grass, ichu, that blankets the high plateau and feeds llamas, alpacas and the little sheep that wander the verges. The label belongs to the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road system that tied this far southern province, Collasuyu, to Cusco, and the old trail is the thread that connects these segments.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua closes the day.
Leg by leg
Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua to Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca
Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua → Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca to Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje
Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca → Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje to Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu
Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje → Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu to back through Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje
Segment Jayllihuaya-Ichu → back through Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje to back through Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca
back through Segment Juli-Cruz Pata-Ccaje → back through Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca to Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua
back through Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca → Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.