Our first stop at Machu Picchu in November 2020 is hard to beat. The weather is cloudy, with occasional rays of sunshine piercing through the morning mist and illuminating the ruins with stunning illumination. Llamas and alpacas swirled, munching on grass and posing majestically. A solitary vizcacha (think of a giant squirrel, but with oversized rabbit ears) scrambling up some rocks on the outskirts of the site. The new and invigorating Andean air. The most productive part?Most of the photographs of our stopover in are absolutely devoid of other tourists.
However, this was an anomaly. We got stuck in Peru during the pandemic, waited patiently in the Sacred Valley for 10 months, and then during the initial local reopening, went to check out the iconic archaeological site. Obviously, this was an experience we blindly lucked into, and one that few people (Peruvians or otherwise) will ever get. On a typical day, more than 4,000 tourists are allowed into the site. The experience can feel rushed, photos are often obscured by the hordes and comparisons to the jostling crowds of Disney World are inevitable. And that experience is about to get significantly more crowded, as starting from 1 January 2024, Peru’s tourism ministry has increased the number of daily allowed tourists at Machu Picchu to 4,500 – and that limit could reach as high 5,600 on specific, high-traffic days. These changes will almost certainly negatively impact the integrity of the site, but as Peru’s financial and political troubles continue, the government is seeking to grow the revenue from its largest tourist draw. From a purely economic viewpoint, it’s understandable; the nation’s tourism board estimates it received 2.2 million tourists in 2023, a significant drop from the pre-Covid 4.6 million of 2019.
As of January 1, 2024, the limit on the number of tourists allowed in Machu Picchu is higher (Kelly Cheng Travel Photography/Getty Images)
It is said that if you only see one site in South America, it deserves to be Machu Picchu. But in a country surely full of mysterious archaeological sites, savvy travelers to Peru might need to explore other places this year. That’s why we offer you the most amazing construction that, at most, no one has ever heard of: Waqra Pukara. “Is this thing in Peru? It looks more like anything by Tolkien,” said a friend as he reviewed our photographs of the site, with its prominent dual peaks emerging above the Apurimac. Cannon like the watchtower of an orc that watches over the lands of Mordor.
Located about 130 km southeast of Machu Picchu, in the domain of Greater Cuzco and along the Apurimac River, the “fortress” (Waqra Pukará translates to “horned fortress” in Quechua) sits at an impressive altitude of 4,100 m, some 1,700 m above Machu Picchu.
And despite being only 60 km from the Inca capital and tourist hub of Cuzco, Waqra Pukará is so far off the beaten tourist trail that until recently even the locals didn’t know much about it.
Sara Román, a Cusco businesswoman, grew up in the 80s and 90s in Sangarará, the closest town to the start of the Aqokunka trail, from where you can walk between two and four hours to the fortress.
“In high school we had a course called ‘History of Peru’ and it covered all the cultures of Peru: Nazca, Moche, Chavin, Inca and others. The professor commented that there was an archaeological site nearby called Waqra Pukara, but “We were not informed anything about the importance or history of the site. . . I’ve been curious, but I haven’t had a chance to go. “
Waqra Pukará to “horned fortress” in Quechua (Heather Jasper)
Having such a close and little-talked about position at school made Roman think there shouldn’t be anything special to see. Tourism in the region is relatively new; International travelers only began to stop there in the last decade. For his family circle and community, hiking in the mountains was a job, not a pleasure: no one went to the mountains to learn more about the Incas.
“I went to Santa Lucia (a village 5km south of the site) once, when I was a child, with my aunt and her donkeys to trade onions, sugar and coca leaves… for potatoes and corn. Now Santa Lucia has a road, but before they didn’t have anything. It took at least eight hours to walk there but we didn’t go to the archaeological site,” Román lamented. “Just last year I went to Waqra Pukará for the first time and I loved it, especially the landscape, the panorama.”
Like so many other pre-Columbian sites in Peru, very little is known about the site itself. While Waqra Pukará has obvious Inca architectural flourishes and modifications (they eventually assumed control of the fortress), some believe the original site was built by the Canchis, a war-like people who thrived before the Inca rose to power. But according to archaeologist Oscar Montúfar, a graduate of Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, there are clues that its origins go even farther back.
“They have found Canchis ceramics from around the year 800 CE,” said Montufar. “[But] new studies that have been done around Waqra Pukará, and especially near the town of Pomacanchi, have shown a very strong Wari presence. There is archaeological evidence of the Pukará culture, which is the oldest, then the Tiawanaku, the Wari, the Canchis and then the Inca. The structures that we see now are from the Inca period.”
He believes that Waqra Pukara was neither residential nor military, and notes that the terraces underneath were used for ceremonial plants, probably for offerings made at the site, and that the scale would not have been able to support a giant population year-round (the site itself “When the Incas arrived at Waqra Pukará, they designated it as a sacred place, but it was also used for ceremonies and pilgrimages with pre-Inca cultures,” Montufar explained.
The jambs of the triple doors are a sign of the religious importance of the site (Heather Jasper)
Other signs of its religious importance lie in a detail of the door frames, which feature triple jambs. Most Inca gates have the same trapezoidal shape, but only the most respected doors have those three frames recessed into the frames.
“It’s only seen in very few very vital angel plans. Even Cusco, Pisac, Ollos angelesntaytambo and Machu Picchu don’t have triple-door jambs,” Montufar said. “It is only discovered in older ancestral angels such as Maukallos angelesq’ta, Islos angeles del Sol [both considered to be the mythical ‘birthplos angelesce’ of the Incas] and Islos angeles de los angeles Luna [where Viracocha, the artistic deity of the Incas, raised the Moon into the sky] in Lake Titicaca. He used to like an angel of plos for special rituals.
And like so many sacred places in Peru, Waqra Pukará is linked to the Qhapaq Ñan, or Inca Trail, a system of roads that connected the Inca Empire throughout Peru and extended as far north as Colombia and south to Argentina.
“Waqra Pukara is not alone, it has several similar archaeological sites nearby. There are cemeteries, a formula of roads that link the Qhapaq Ñan and petroglyphs. It is a very giant network. The location confers territorial control over the entire area,” Montúfar says. ” Another attractive facet of Waqra Pukara is the way the walls and terraces embrace the herbaceous curves of the topography. That is what makes it such a beautiful sight. It terraces the existing topography to prevent erosion and landslides. “They stabilize the gigantic flat platforms that have been built on the site. “
The most unique facet of the site, however, is its “horns,” the dual rock formations that rise above and make it immediately recognizable. Despite their name, Montufar claims that they are not horns at all, but llama ears, the sighting of which is practically inevitable when walking from the start of the Aqokunka trail. Unlike the animals of Machu Picchu, these are not intended for tourists; These higher altitudes (around 3,500 to 5,00 m) are the herbaceous habitat of the animal.
The hike from the Aqokunka trailhead to Waqra Pukará takes between two and four hours, at its fitness point (Heather Jasper)
Visiting the site is an unforgettable experience. It’s a 10k trek roundtrip from the trailhead and back, and while the path is fairly intuitive, you likely won’t see any other hikers, so a guide is recommended.
Most tour agencies in Cusco can now hire an advisor and personal transportation, but it’s simple to take a bus from the village to Sangarará; from there, you can take a taxi to the Aqokunka trailhead. The hike from the trailhead to Waqra Pukará takes between two and 4 hours, depending on your fitness level. For those who need a longer hike, the hike from Sangarará to Aqokunka The trailhead takes about 8 hours.
Along the way, you’ll see herds of llamas, Inca terraces, caves with petroglyphs, and, depending on the season, fields of wildflowers. It is a rocky, unspoiled landscape of raw beauty.
“The Apurimac Canyon is super beautiful and the trail from the Aqokunka Trail is easy. . . Once you get to the archaeological site, you’ve gotten through all the hardest parts,” said Cass Madden, an avid hiker who lived in Cuzco for six years. However, he noted that the altitude can make things much more difficult, so something he highly recommends is spending some time acclimatizing at nearby Sangarará, chewing coca leaves, or drinking coca tea.
The most impressive moment is when you turn a corner and see the “horns” suddenly appear in front of you. Once inside, it looks more like an Inca site, but from a distance, the two rock outcrops look primitive, Neolithic maximum. and unlike anything seen in Peru.
Within, you’ll find multiple enclosures, a window perfect for photo ops, a niche were the Inca may have placed a venerated mummy, and a stone, table-like altar where llamas – and who knows what else – would have been sacrificed.
Not many other people make it to Waqra Pukará, which means you probably have the site to yourself (David Mendoza Valdivia/500px/Getty Images)
And Waqra Pukara is an opportunity to pitch a tent and camp. People pay huge sums of money to wake up at 04:00 and walk around to appreciate the morning glow of Machu Picchu; however, in Waqra Pukara you can watch the sunrise from your tent. free. Although the campsite is not heavily urbanized, there are rustic toilets and drinking water.
“The sunset and sunrise are beautiful. . . and there’s no one there!” said Madden. It’s quite special to be able to sleep next to Waqra Pukara. “
As studies of the site continue, Montúfar is hopeful more will be learned about Waqra Pukará. Machu Picchu holds its own mysteries, but almost everyone agrees it’s of Inca construction and from the 1400s. Waqra Pukará’s exact purpose, age and original inhabitants, however, are still to be determined. For those seeking the mystical atmosphere of Machu Picchu but with a fraction of the crowds, Peru’s horned fortress awaits.
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