Trip Details
- Distance:Â 15 km total
- Hiking time:Â 6-7 hours daily (includes breaks, lunch)
- Max altitude:Â 4,247 masl (13,933 ft)
- Difficulty:Â Moderate (steep ups/downs)
- Weather:Â Cold mornings, windy afternoons. Pack layers!


Huchuy Qosqo is an ancient Inca spot north of Cusco, Peru. Its name means “Little Cusco” in Quechua. Sitting at 3,600 meters (11,800 ft), it towers above Lamay town and the Sacred Valley. Fun fact: this place wasn’t always called Huchuy Qosqo—back in the day, locals knew it as Kakya Qawani. Old Spanish records say Inca Viracocha built these ruins. You’ll see stone and adobe buildings here, including a massive 40-meter-long hall (kallanka). The Inca even built an 800-meter stone-lined canal to bring water up here!
Getting there? No roads. You’ll hike either from Lamay (3 hours steep climb, watch for mosquitoes!) or Tauca (3 hours with a 4,400-meter pass, plus other ruins). The classic 2-day route from Tauca to Lamay is in Peter Frost’s Exploring Cusco book. Most travelers join group hikes or horseback tours. This trek mixes cool ruins, epic Andean scenery, and snowy peaks of the Urubamba range.
We pick you up early from your Cusco hotel (4:30-5:00 AM) and drive to Tambomachay, an Inca water temple near Sacsayhuaman. Check out Puca Pucara fortress nearby—it guarded Cusco’s entrance!
The hike starts here. We follow Tambomachay stream uphill toward Abra Sicllajasa pass. You’ll see Cusco shrinking below and spot wild ichu grass covering the hills. Lunch happens at Qeullacocha lagoon—keep an eye out for Andean birds!
After eating, we climb to Challu Challu viewpoint. On clear days, you’ll see Piuray and Qoricocha lagoons glittering below. Then it’s a steady climb to Abra Rumicruz pass (4,247m!), where the air gets thin. Finally, we drop down to Pucamarca, a tiny Andean village. Camp here, eat dinner, and crash in tents.
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Wake up to coca tea and breakfast. Today’s mostly downhill! We hike through terraced fields, cross an original Inca bridge (flat stones over a gorge—don’t look down if you’re scared of heights!), and follow an old paved trail to Huchuy Qosqo.
At the ruins, explore 3-story adobe buildings, fancy double-doorways, and that insane view of the Sacred Valley. Your guide will explain how this place was a mini-Cusco for Inca elites. After soaking it in, we descend 2 hours to Lamay. Our ride back to Cusco leaves here.
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“ITAN Adventure” is a 100% Peruvian-owned tour operator based in Cusco, with extensive experience in hiking, adventure tours, and customized travel packages. As a completely local company, we’re dedicated to providing travelers with authentic, high-quality experiences.
Our vision as a local company is to deliver personalized travel and hiking journeys, managed exclusively by experienced local professionals, with a strong focus on HIGH-QUALITY and PERSONALIZED SERVICE.
We are proud of our reputation as a travel agency that upholds RESPONSIBLE and SUSTAINABLE practices benefiting both the environment and local communities.
We treat our team like family and ensure they receive fair wages. We are incredibly proud of each member of our team! Their dedication makes it possible for us to provide the top-notch service that our many travelers appreciate.
At “ITAN Adventure,” we understand that our reputation and the feedback from our travelers are essential for gaining the trust of future adventurers. You can check out honest reviews from our guests on TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Google to see why we’re a reliable choice for creating your Peruvian adventure.
To ensure a more personalized experience at “ITAN Adventure,” we keep our group sizes to a maximum of 8 travelers. This approach allows us to offer a tailored experience, unlike companies that operate with larger groups.
Our guides are our pride. They’re highly knowledgeable and professional, fluent in English, and deeply passionate about Inca culture and history. Each guide is committed to ongoing personal and professional development, allowing them to share accurate insights and fascinating theories about Andean heritage. They are friendly, athletic, and well-educated, with backgrounds in Archaeology, Tourism, Botany, History, or Anthropology.
Hiking with “ITAN Adventure” ensures a fulfilling experience. Our porters are here to make your journey comfortable and memorable. They carry your equipment, prepare meals, set up camps, and attend to your needs so you can relax and enjoy the adventure. Along the way, you’ll connect with local people, explore stunning sites, and discover historic Inca villages.
We provide our porters with essential equipment at no cost: jackets, sun hats, warm hats, shirts, pants, hiking boots, comfortable bags, canteens, back support belts, sleeping bags, mattresses, and travel insurance. Our porters come from remote communities, and by hiring them, we help improve their economic conditions and support their children’s education. We treat our porters like family!
Our team—guides, cooks, porters, muleteers—and our equipment make “ITAN Adventure” stand out from the competition. During our hikes, we provide:
“ITAN Adventure” is committed to giving back to isolated communities. We support social projects and prioritize hiring local staff.
We are proud to support local communities not only by providing employment but also by offering assistance to their families. This holistic approach benefits our employees from the Peruvian Andes and their loved ones, strengthening our connection to the local heritage.
Pro Tips:
Real Talk:
This trek’s moderate, but the altitude and steep drops can be tough. Weather changes fast—one minute it’s sunny, next it’s hailing. But the mix of ruins, mountain views, and local villages makes it worth the sweat. Just go slow, drink water, and enjoy the ride!