Weekend in Vilkabamba (and some Inca history)

Vilcabamba is one of the fourteen districts in the Cusco region but much better known for its history. After the Spanish conquest in Peru and lastly also Cusco in the 1530s, the Inca empire lived on for several decades in this area. They strategically chose this area, as it is hard to access due to its mountainous nature (with many peaks over 5000 m above sea level). 

In only few years, the Incas were able to build up a whole mini-empire where they resided in.

There are some rumors that the Incas took some of their precious treasures to Vilcabamba and hid them there, that's why even today there are still people searching for those treasures. Even today this area is largely untouched, mainly due to its nature and height.

To reach Vilcabamba from Cusco, one can either go through Quillabamba and spend a couple of days there, or go directly through Santa Maria to Pucyura, which is however a long and tedious drive (around 6-7 hours). Thus a stopover of some sort is highly recommended.

We choose to stay in Quillabamba and my uncle drove us then to Vilcabamba, first to Pucyura and then further in through Chillihua to the foot of the "Nevado de Otaña" (translated: the snowy mountain of Otaña). The further we drove further out of the smaller villages, the more often children ran towards our car when we drove past their houses in hopes of getting bread. In those remote areas the people eat what they can grow themselves or what they can buy and easily store for some time. So the diet consists mainly of potatoes, rice, meat and other vegetables. Bread is seen as something special, as they only eat it when they would go into the next bigger village / city (which easily can be a 2 hour drive from their house). 

At the foot of the mountain of Otaña there is a Puya Raimondii national park (a flower also known as the queen of the Andes). The puya raimondii is native to high altitude areas (typically around 3000 to 5000 m above sea level). It only blooms once after around 80 years and then dies. The puya raimondii is very tall with a height around 15 m. Entering the national park costs 5 soles per person (around 1.5 USD).

We then further made our way up to our mountain hut, which is around an additional hour walk from where we've parked the car. The hike is beautiful but also tough, as the area is at more than 4000 m above sea level.

The mountain hut is run and maintained by local people. There is running water and electricity through solar panels as well as an oven to stay warm and to cook. They provide things like cutlery, pans and plates to cook and eat but the food has to be brought. There is a large sleeping area with bunk beds that could sleep around 25 to 30 people. The price for staying here is 15 soles per person and per night (around 4.5 USD).

Next morning we woke up early and were able to witness the rising of the sun at 5 am. After some mint tea we decided to hike up to the Otaña lagoon, that was about an hour hike away from our mountain hut. As we were getting higher and higher in altitude hiking became much more difficult but eventually we were able to see the lagoon.

Back in our mountain hut, we had some potatoes for breakfast and slowly started making our way down, as we had a long day ahead. First we made our way back to Pucyura and visited nearby Vitcos. As a last stop, we made our way up to Ñusta Hispana, an archaeological site that shows some of the remains of the Incas staying in Vilcabamba. Extremely exhausted, we made our way back to Quillabamba.