Señor de Huanca trek

Last night, a friend of mine and I hiked to the Sanctuary of the Lord of Huanca. It is a recent tradition for thousands of young people (especially) to do it at night on the eve of the central day of this religious feast, today the 14th.

Here the story of my trek through pictures.

The starting point is San Jeronimo main square at 3200 m. This pic was taken at 23:30

From San Jeronimo to Huacotto:

Huacotto is 3 to 4 hours from San Jeronimo

On the uphill to Huacotto there are up to three places to drink hot ponche de habas

Eating rice and fried egg. Hurry up to keep on walking!

From Huacotto to an Inca Archeological Site:

Huacotto is at 4000 m and then there is a prairie or better a pampa

Llamas on the pampa

Pachatusan mountain: the pillar of the world

The average temperate at night is 2 grades Centigrade

Native grasses: ichu and…

…yareta.

Just starting the way down there is a small Inca fortress perched on the buttresses

From  the Inca Site to the Sanctuary:

The way down is 2 to 3 hours

Devotees leave offerings inside the Inca site

Using boulders, some devotees ask something, for instance, a house.

a landscape of crags

the Inca site and the cross

This is the way down to the Sanctuary:

From Huacotto to the Sanctuary there are a few crosses draped in cloths

Do you see the snow-capped mountain to the left and the river to the right?

Hikers heading down to the Sanctuary

The mountain and the Sanctuary

The Sanctuary of the Lord of Huanca

An overwhelming faith

The Sanctuary taken from the way to the highway to Cusco

XVIII century baroque painting of the Lord of Huanca. Museo Garcilaso.

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