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Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 and Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
773 km
Riding-time estimate
20 h 38
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.

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Why this ride

773 km from Yauya to Yauya, about 20 h 38 of riding. The stops in between: Segment Canrash - Torrepampa, Segment Cajay - Huaritambo, Segment Ayash - Taulli and Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051

    East of the Cordillera Blanca, in the region of Ancash known as the Conchucos, the Inca road system, the Qhapaq Ñan, crossed some of the most rugged terrain of its entire network. This segment, near the small town of Yauya, is part of the main road that ran north from Cusco to Quito through the high Andes, linking administrative centres such as Huánuco Pampa to the south. The Inca engineers laid stone paving, built steps on steep slopes, retaining walls and drainage channels, and stretches of the road can still be walked today, threading across high grasslands and past lakes at altitudes well over three and a half thousand metres. The whole network, which crosses six countries, became a World Heritage site in 2014.

    Read the complete Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 is where the day begins. Next is Segment Canrash - Torrepampa.

  2. 2. Segment Canrash - Torrepampa

    The Inca road network, the Qhapaq Ñan, once linked an empire stretching from Colombia to Chile, and this segment, between Canrash and Torrepampa, runs through the high valleys of the Conchucos region in Ancash, east of the Cordillera Blanca. The Inca road here was a stone-paved trail, with steps, retaining walls and drainage channels, built for runners, soldiers and llama caravans rather than wheels. Much of it survives, winding along hillsides above the river valleys, and it is part of the transnational World Heritage listing for the Andean road system.

    Read the complete Segment Canrash - Torrepampa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Segment Canrash - Torrepampa comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Cajay - Huaritambo.

  3. 3. Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

    Few riders ever get this far into the Conchucos, the deep valleys on the eastern side of Peru's Cordillera Blanca, and that is half the reason to come. The label refers to a stretch of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Inca road network that ran for thousands of kilometres along the Andes, here crossing between the hamlet of Cajay and Huaritambo, whose name preserves the word tambo, the waystation where runners and travellers on imperial business could rest, eat and change loads. Parts of the paving, retaining walls and drainage channels still survive on slopes where it is hard to imagine anyone building anything at all.

    Read the complete Segment Cajay - Huaritambo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 199 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Cajay - Huaritambo. Next is Segment Ayash - Taulli.

  4. 4. Segment Ayash - Taulli

    East of the Cordillera Blanca, the Andes break into a jumble of high plateaus and deep valleys draining toward the Marañón and the Amazon, and the Inca road ran through this country on its way from Cusco to Quito. The Ayash to Taulli segment is a stretch of the Qhapaq Ñan in the highlands of Huánuco, near the town of Llata, part of the UNESCO-listed Andean road system. It runs through the puna, the high grassland above the tree line, where the wind blows cold and the views stretch for miles over ridges and valleys. In places, the original road survives, with stone paving, retaining walls, steps and drainage channels, and walking a section of it is the best way to understand how the Incas moved people and goods across this vertical landscape.

    Read the complete Segment Ayash - Taulli write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Segment Ayash - Taulli, about halfway. Next is Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku.

  5. 5. Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku

    The Qhapaq Ñan, the royal road of the Incas, linked an empire that stretched from what is now Colombia to Chile and Argentina, and in the highlands of Huánuco in central Peru one of its best-preserved stretches runs across the high puna between Tambo Chico and Taparaku.

    Read the complete Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku sits at 173 km, about halfway. Next is back through Segment Ayash - Taulli.

  6. 6. back through Segment Ayash - Taulli

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Ayash - Taulli write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Segment Ayash - Taulli comes up about 477 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo.

  7. 7. back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Cajay - Huaritambo write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 573 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo. Next is back through Segment Canrash - Torrepampa.

  8. 8. back through Segment Canrash - Torrepampa

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Canrash - Torrepampa write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Segment Canrash - Torrepampa, late in the day. Next is Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051.

  9. 9. Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    The route ends here after 773 km.

Leg by leg

Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 to Segment Canrash - Torrepampa

Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 → Segment Canrash - Torrepampa is 81 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment Canrash - Torrepampa to Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

Segment Canrash - Torrepampa → Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 118 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to Segment Ayash - Taulli

Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → Segment Ayash - Taulli is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment Ayash - Taulli to Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku

Segment Ayash - Taulli → Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku to back through Segment Ayash - Taulli

Segment Tambo Chico - Taparaku → back through Segment Ayash - Taulli is 103 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Segment Ayash - Taulli to back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo

back through Segment Ayash - Taulli → back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 96 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to back through Segment Canrash - Torrepampa

back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → back through Segment Canrash - Torrepampa is 112 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Segment Canrash - Torrepampa to Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051

back through Segment Canrash - Torrepampa → Segment Otutococha - QÑ-HH-051 is 87 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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