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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 961 km round trip from Lares - roughly 16 h 35 in the saddle. On the way it passes Segment Kintama-Tawis, Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata, Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla and Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 73 km this is Sacred Valley Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
North-east of Cusco, the Andes begin their great fall towards the Amazon. Somewhere in the high grassland between Paucartambo and the edge of the cloud forest, the segment of Inca road between Paucarpata and Ichuka crosses the puna, a land of tussock grass, cold lakes and rocky ridges at well over 3,500 metres. It is part of the Qhapaq Ñan, and the rides that pass here link it with the Manú National Park, one of the most biodiverse protected areas on Earth, which stretches from these heights down into lowland rainforest.
Read the complete Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka is where the day begins. Next is Segment Kintama-Tawis.
The Inca built a road network that stretched some thirty thousand kilometres along the Andes, from southern Colombia to central Chile, and much of it still exists as stone paths, staircases and causeways through the mountains. The Qhapaq Ñan, as it is called, was listed by UNESCO in 2014 as a set of segments across six countries. The Kintama-Tawis segment lies in the mountains north of the Sacred Valley of Cusco, in the high country between the valley and the cloud forests that descend toward the Amazon and the Manú national park.
Read the complete Segment Kintama-Tawis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Kintama-Tawis comes up about 85 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata.
Along the heights above the Sacred Valley of the Incas, a footpath of stone and earth winds across the mountains, and this is one tiny part of one of the greatest road systems ever built. The Qhapaq Ñan was the road network of the Inca empire, some thirty thousand kilometres of trail linking the coast, the Andes and the forests of what are now six countries. UNESCO listed it in 2014, and the Cusco region, the heart of the empire, has some of the best-preserved stretches, many of them with the original stone paving, steps cut into the rock and retaining walls that have survived five centuries of rain.
Read the complete Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 194 km into the recorded legs you reach Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata. Next is Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla.
Every road of the Inca empire began here. The great square of Cusco, which the Incas called Hauk'aypata, was the ceremonial heart of Tawantinsuyu, the land of the four quarters, and from it the main roads radiated out to the four parts of the empire, to Quito in the north, to Chile and Argentina in the south, to the jungle in the east and the coast in the west. The square was much larger than today's Plaza de Armas and was covered, according to the chroniclers, with sand brought from the coast, in which offerings of gold and silver were buried. Here, mummies of past rulers were brought out for festivals, and the Inca received ambassadors and celebrated victories.
Read the complete Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla, about halfway. Next is Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana.
South-east of Cusco, the Vilcanota valley narrows at a place called Rumicolca, and a massive stone gateway stands across the old road. Built originally by the Wari, the empire that preceded the Inca, as part of an aqueduct, and later converted by the Inca into a controlled entrance to the Cusco valley, the gateway of Rumicolca marked the checkpoint where travellers and goods were inspected. The segment of the Qhapaq Ñan between Rumicolca and Chuspitacana is part of the Andean road system inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2014, and its stones still carry the marks of the people who walked it.
Read the complete Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana sits at 482 km, about halfway. Next is back through Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla comes up about 588 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 765 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata. Next is back through Segment Kintama-Tawis.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Kintama-Tawis write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Segment Kintama-Tawis, late in the day. Next is Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 961 km.
Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka → Segment Kintama-Tawis is 85 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Kintama-Tawis → Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata is 109 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata → Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla is 177 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla → Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana is 109 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Portada Rumiqolqa-ch’Uspitacana → back through Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla is 109 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Plaza Inca Hanan: Hauk’aypataqolla → back through Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata is 177 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Segment Choquecancha-Paucarpata → back through Segment Kintama-Tawis is 109 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Segment Kintama-Tawis → Segment Paucarpata-Ichuka is 85 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.