Segment Cupo-Topain and Segment Lasana Norte

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Segment Cupo-Topain

   In the far north of Chile, the Atacama Desert holds some of the driest ground on Earth, and the Loa river is the only stream that crosses it, carving a green line through the sand and rock. The road between Cupo and Topain follows a stretch of the Inca trail through this country, high in the Andean foothills above Calama and San Pedro de Atacama, a segment of the Qhapaq Nan, the Inca road network inscribed by UNESCO in 2014.

   Read the complete Segment Cupo-Topain write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Segment Cupo-Topain is where the day begins. Next is Segment Incahuasi Norte.

2. 2. Segment Incahuasi Norte

   The Inca built a road system, the Qhapaq Ñan, that ran for tens of thousands of kilometres through six modern countries, from Colombia to Chile and Argentina, and parts of it climb into the driest desert in the world. This segment lies in the Atacama region of northern Chile, on high ground at the edge of the salt basins and volcanoes, somewhere in the great arid country east of Calama and San Pedro de Atacama. The roadbed there is a modest affair, a cleared path edged with stones, sometimes with small waystations, enclosures and cairns, and its purpose was to link the capital Cusco with the far southern edge of the empire and to carry runners, llama caravans and soldiers.

   Read the complete Segment Incahuasi Norte write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Segment Incahuasi Norte comes up about 84 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Lasana Norte.

3. 3. Segment Lasana Norte

   Lasana is a place where the desert makes a promise and keeps it. A few kilometres north of the oasis village of Chiu-Chiu, in northern Chile, the Loa river, the only river that crosses the Atacama, cuts a green gorge through the dry hills, with fields of alfalfa, willows and bright reeds, and on a rocky hill above the water stand the ruins of a pukará, a pre-Hispanic fortress of stone walls and terraces. The people who lived here, the Atacameño, lived in the oasis for centuries, farming maize, quinoa and potatoes, and later the Inca arrived and built roads, storehouses and administrative posts. This section of the Qhapaq Ñan, part of the six-nation UNESCO listing of 2014, passes through the area.

   Read the complete Segment Lasana Norte write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 104 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Lasana Norte. Next is back through Segment Incahuasi Norte.

4. 4. back through Segment Incahuasi Norte

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Segment Incahuasi Norte write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Segment Incahuasi Norte, late in the day. Next is Segment Cupo-Topain.

5. 5. Segment Cupo-Topain

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Segment Cupo-Topain write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Segment Cupo-Topain. That is the ride.