Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata and Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
418 km
Riding-time estimate
10 h 31
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.
From Puños it runs 418 km to Puños; allow about 10 h 31 of riding. On the way it passes Segment Cajay - Huaritambo, Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha and back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 4,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata
The Qhapaq Ñan, the great road network of the Inca Empire, ran for thousands of kilometres along the Andes, linking the capital Cusco with the far corners of an empire that stretched from Colombia to Chile. In the department of Huánuco, in central Peru, one of its best preserved sections crosses the high puna between the administrative centre of Huánuco Pampa and the valleys to the north, and the segment between Taparaku and the Tambo de Llata is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2014.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata is where the day begins. Next is Segment Cajay - Huaritambo.
2. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Segment Cajay - Huaritambo comes up about 91 km into the recorded legs. Next is Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha.
3. Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha
Few places in Peru feel as far from Lima as the eastern side of the Cordillera Blanca, in the Conchucos country of the Ancash region. The Inca road here was a mountain track, climbing from the valley of the Marañón up to the high grasslands, and the segment from Lomas de Huarin to Matacocha, part of the UNESCO Qhapaq Ñan listing of 2014, runs through a landscape of steep green slopes, terraced fields, small hamlets and a sky that feels very close. The towns are Pomabamba, a market town known for hot springs, and Yauya, a smaller place in a side valley, with farms and a busy Sunday market.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata to Segment Cajay - Huaritambo
Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata → Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha
Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha is 123 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha to back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo
Segment Lomas de Huarin - Matacocha → back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo to Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata
back through Segment Cajay - Huaritambo → Segment Taparaku - Tambo de Llata is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.