Overview

4,300 m

Highest point

1 hour

On foot, each way

No fee

To enter the site

15 hrs

Door to door

Waqrapukara sits on a rock tower above the Apurimac canyon, in Acomayo province. It is one of the strangest things the Inca ever built. Two natural horns of stone rise from the summit. Between and below them the Inca laid terraces, walls and trapezoidal niches of the finest quality, fitted to the rock as though the mountain had asked for them.

You will also see the name written as Waqra Pukara, Huaqrapukara or Waqrapucara. They are the same place. The Quechua is straightforward. Waqra is horn, pukara is fortress.

The fortress part is probably wrong. The Canchis people built the first circular structures here and the Inca later took the site, but the quality of the masonry and the position suggest a ceremonial place rather than a military one. It is very hard to defend a citadel that can only be reached by one path, and very easy to make that path a procession.

What is beyond argument is the setting. The site stands at 4,300 metres on the edge of a canyon that drops away toward the Apurimac. On a clear day you can see the river system that the Inca considered one of the great sacred waters of the empire.

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Entrance

There is currently no entrance ticket.

Waqrapukara has no gate, no booth and no fee. For a site of this quality that is remarkable, and it is a fair sign of how few people still make the journey. We would not expect it to stay that way for many more years.

Tour Highlights

✓ Waqrapukara receives a fraction of the visitors that any comparable ruin near Cusco does. You will often have the terraces to yourselves.
✓ 4,300 metres, several hundred below Rainbow Mountain and the Quelccaya viewpoint. It suits people who have struggled at altitude before.
✓ Canchis circular structures underneath, Inca ceremonial architecture on top. You can read the takeover in the stonework.
✓ The site stands on the edge of the Apurimac gorge. The drop does more for the photographs than the ruin alone ever could.
✓ There is no gate. At present no entrance fee is charged anywhere on this route.
✓ Trekking poles are provided for everyone, and your guide carries oxygen and a first aid kit.

What to Expect

A long day for one ruin, and the people who come back happiest are the ones who knew that in advance. Expect around nine hours in a vehicle, split either side of the walk. An early start at four, breakfast in the dark, and Cusco again somewhere between six and seven in the evening. Expect about an hour of steady uphill to reach the site and a similar hour coming down, with poles handed out before you set off. Expect the site itself to be quiet. There is no ticket office, no rope and no circuit to follow. On many departures ours is the only group on the terraces, which means you can sit down, look into the canyon and stay put for a while. Expect facilities to be basic. Bathrooms at the breakfast stop and very little after that. Lunch is outdoors at Santa Lucia, with a view rather than a roof. Expect wind on the canyon rim, and dress in layers you can add and take off without stopping. And expect to sleep well that night.

Tour Itinerary

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We collect the group between four and half past four and leave once everybody is aboard. It is a genuinely early start and there is no way around it. The driving is long at both ends of the day.

Bring warm layers, sun protection and a little cash for drinks. Sleep in the vehicle. The first stretch runs south on smooth tarmac.

Altitude 3.400 Metres

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Inclusions

✓ Hotel pickup and drop off in central Cusco
✓ Tourist transport for the whole day
✓ Professional bilingual guide, Spanish and English
✓ Buffet breakfast at Cusipata
✓ Lunch at Santa Lucia
✓ Trekking poles for every traveller
✓ Oxygen and first aid kit on board
✓ Entrance to Waqrapukara, as none is currently charged

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Not Included

X Drinking water and snacks
X Travel insurance
X Dinner on return to Cusco

Departure Information

Available: Daily departures

Start Time: 4:00 AM

Pickup: Hotel in Cusco

Frequently Asked Questions

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Horn fortress. In Quechua waqra is horn and pukara is fortress. The site is built between two great horns of rock, which is exactly what you see on the approach.

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