Segment Desaguadero Titijoni and Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
116 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 15
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.
116 km from Desaguadero to Desaguadero, about 2 h 15 of riding. The stops in between: Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua, Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca and back through Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,100 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Bolivia into Peru - carry ID and check the toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Segment Desaguadero Titijoni
At around 3,800 metres above sea level the air on the Altiplano is thin enough to make lacing your boots feel like exercise, and Desaguadero is a place where you should take everything at half speed. The town sits on the border between Peru and Bolivia at the southern end of Lake Titicaca, where the Desaguadero river drains the lake toward the south. The segment of old road near Titijoni is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road network listed by UNESCO in 2014, which ran along the shores of Titicaca on its way between Cusco and the southern provinces.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Desaguadero Titijoni is where the day begins. Next is Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua.
2. 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 comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca.
3. 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
Back at Segment Desaguadero Titijoni. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Segment Desaguadero Titijoni to Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua
Segment Desaguadero Titijoni → Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua to Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca
Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua → Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca to back through Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua
Segment Pomata-Chaca Chaca → back through Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua to Segment Desaguadero Titijoni
back through Segment Arbolera-Parcco Chua Chua → Segment Desaguadero Titijoni is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.