A holiday to the Colca Canyon also provides a rich and compellingly authentic human dimension to explore too. Here, crisscrossed by a network of ancient and little-explored caminos, you’ll discover the most extensive pre-Inca terracing anywhere in Peru, pretty colonial Andean villages seemingly lost in time, enigmatic petroglyphs, pre-Inca archaeological sites and an abundance of festivals and artisan traditions.
The Colca Canyon is a deeply rewarding place to explore for a few days as part of an off-the-beaten-path exploratory tour of Peru that knits together the Nazca Lines, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca and the Sacred Valley. It also makes a seamless addition to Belmond’s luxurious Andean Explorer train which crosses the Andes between Cusco and Arequipa.
"Best of all, there is now a lodge – the latest in the stable of visionary hotelier Ignacio Masias – that makes a fabulous new base from which to launch your explorations."
Located in the heart of the valley amidst ancient terraces, Puqio is an oasis of peace with the kind of attentive service you’d expect of Masias’ other properties Titilaka and Cirqa. Along with a handful of adobe cottages and lodge rooms, there are four wonderfully stylish yet understated tented suites that evoke the type of grand expeditionary camps used by explorers such as Hiram Bingham.
Fortified by delicious cuisine that imaginatively draws on traditional Andean recipes cooked in clay or over an open flame, you’ll head out each day–with a private guide or with fellow guests as you choose–to delve into ancient plant wisdom with a natural herbalist, visit some of the best textile weavers in the Andes, explore crumbling seventeenth-century churches or soak in thermal baths.
If you are feeling more active, you can trek or ride on horseback up to fortified hilltops, along the river bottom, and through outlandish ‘rock cities’ where, more often than not, a surprise picnic will await where you can enjoy a gourmet al fresco lunch while taking in the enormous vistas. Ranging from a few hours to full-day guided explorations, no two journeys to Valle Colca are the same.
Puqio and the Colca Canyon are ideal places for repeat visitors to Peru looking to explore a new area far from the crowds, or first-time visitors seeking a deeper connection with the soul of a rather magical place.
