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.
The stops in between: Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande, Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I, Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas and Segment Aypate - El Arco. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Ecuador into Peru - carry ID and check the toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
The Qhapaq Ñan, the royal road of the Incas, ran for thousands of kilometres from Colombia to Chile, and in Ecuador it climbed along the spine of the highlands between Quito and Cusco. Cobbled or terraced sections survive in the high country, usually away from the modern highway, and a number of them were added to the World Heritage list in 2014 as part of the multinational road system.
Read the complete Segment Caragshillo - Cañaro - Tuncarta write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Caragshillo - Cañaro - Tuncarta is where the day begins. Next is Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande.
The Inca built a road through the Andes of Ecuador as they did elsewhere, and in the south of the country a stretch of it runs through the hills near Saraguro, north of the city of Loja. This is a section of the Qhapaq Ñan, the great Andean road system recognised by UNESCO in 2014, and the segment from Ciudadela to Vinoyaco Grande follows a paved or cobbled path across high grassland and over low ridges, with stone steps in the steep places and drains to keep the water off. Saraguro is known for its indigenous people, the Saraguros, who wear black clothing, the men in knee-length trousers and flat hats and the women with shawls and long pleated skirts, and who keep a strong tradition of farming and festivals.
Read the complete Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I.
Far down in the southwest of Ecuador, in the province of Loja near the border with Peru, the old Inca highway crossed a dry and broken country of ridges and ravines on its way between the Andes of Ecuador and northern Peru. The subsection near the Quebrada Huatuchi is one of the stretches of the Qhapaq Ñan identified and protected here, part of a route that linked Inca settlements on both sides of the present border, including the ruins of Aypate on the Peruvian side. Out here the stone paving, retaining walls and drainage of the road can still be traced across the hillsides.
Read the complete Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 181 km into the recorded legs you reach Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I. Next is Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas.
The Inca road did not end at the Ecuadorian border; it ran on through the Andes of southern Ecuador towards Cuenca and Quito, and segments of it survive in the province of Loja, among them this one between San José, Llamacanchi and Las Limas. It is a remote stretch in hill country near the Peruvian border, where the Andes are lower and drier than further north, and the road crosses ridges and valleys covered with scrub, pasture and patches of seasonally dry forest. It belongs to the Qhapaq Ñan World Heritage site, which spans six countries.
Read the complete Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas, about halfway. Next is Segment Aypate - El Arco.
High above the dry coast of northern Peru, the Andes rise into a cold, wet world of páramo and cloud forest, and in the highlands near Ayabaca sits Aypate, an Inca administrative centre that few visitors ever see. It was one of the major stops on the Inca road network in this part of the country, linked to the great highway that ran north toward Quito, and the Qhapaq Ñan road system was listed by UNESCO in 2014. The stone terraces, plazas and buildings lie scattered on a windy hilltop, with the mist drifting through, and the sense of remoteness is extraordinary.
Read the complete Segment Aypate - El Arco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Aypate - El Arco sits at 176 km, about halfway. Next is back through Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas comes up about 388 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 448 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I. Next is back through Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande, late in the day. Next is Segment Caragshillo - Cañaro - Tuncarta.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Caragshillo - Cañaro - Tuncarta write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 632 km.
Segment Caragshillo - Cañaro - Tuncarta → Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande → Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I is 151 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I → Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas → Segment Aypate - El Arco is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Aypate - El Arco → back through Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment San José - Llamacanchi - Las Limas → back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Subsection Quebrada Huatuchi - Plaza del I → back through Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande is 152 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Segment Ciudadela - Vinoyaco Grande → Segment Caragshillo - Cañaro - Tuncarta is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.