Before describing the Inka Naani route, it is interesting to say that the entire project is based on the investigations of Ricardo Espinosa, who walked the entire Capaq Ñan, and wrote a book afterwards to publish his findings. He said that the best-preserved and most beautiful section of The Great Inca Trail is the section that runs through Los Conchucos: El Inka Naani. This part is preserved very well, because there are no modern towns big enough to build a modern road for.

As seen on the picture, the Inka Naani is only a small part of the entire Inca Trail. In total the route is 140 kilometers long, but the part we are working on is only 80 kilometers. This part is linking the departments of Ancash and Huánuco and runs from the city of Huari to the archeological site of Huánuco Viejo near La Unión.

The route starts at the Pomachaca Bridge crossing the River Mosna. A lot have been written about this bridge, because when the Spaniards crossed it, the Inca captain Chillicuchima told them that there was a meeting with the people of Guáscar, who where waiting for him. The Inca defended themselves for two or three days, and finally they were defeated, and since they saw that they were losing, they burned the bridge, and the Inca people start crossing the river swimming, and killed many Spaniards this way.

The first part of the Inka Naani is mainly going up, passing by a town called Castillo and at the end of the inhabited area lies Soledad de Tambo. This is one of the pilot-villages chosen by The Mountain Institute, and we are going to stay there the entire next day as well, to get to know the area better.

One of the things we are going to visit in Soledad de Tambo is the Inca ushnu at Pincos. This is a truncated pyramid with an opening that would have received offerings during the Inca ceremonies.

The road continues climbing up, until it reaches some corrals (enclosures to protect animals from running away). This part may have been a Tambo as well and therefore it is called Tambillo. From there the Inca road is about 9 to 10 meters wide, with the stones still in their original position and it keeps on going up. The road passes a beautiful lake called Tinya and another tambo called Quinhuajirca. From there the road starts to descend crossing the little Inca village Ayash and the river. The road continues to climb further up, but this part is mainly overflowed by a little stream, what causes difficulty in walking and recognizing the road. That is why we are going to use alternative transport to Huamanín.

From Huamanín we continue to walk into a valley with wetlands full of birds, cattle and horses, passing by Tambo grande.

The valley narrows down and the road start to follow the river Taparaco, like the great royal tambo on the side of this river. The village next to this archaeological site is called Taparaco (which means ‘large butterfly) as well. The site consists of over 70 enclosures, but they are very deteriorated due to the farmers using the stones for their corrals.

The road follows the river and is covered by stones that have rolled down the hills. Than the village of San Lorenzo de Isco/Victor Raul is being passed. This village attracts attention because of the amount of Quenuales that grow there. From this village on, the Inca Trail splits in two different roads. The western road has a variable width of up to 10 meters, climbs up from San Lorenzo de Isco on the west bank of the Vizcarra river and its much better than its eastern alternative. It descends to the river and lead straight down to the bridge over the Vizcarra, known as the Huánuco Viejo Bridge, but is now called the Colpa bridge. The original Inca Bridge maintained unchanged until a flood destroyed it in 1980, today a modern bridge has replaced the original one.

From here the road almost totally disappeared due to the construction of the modern road from Huallanca to La Unión. The road climbs up from the other side of the road, but is difficult to find. But finally it arrives at royal tambo of Huánuco Pampa, nowadays known as the archaeological site of Huánuco Viejo. This complex was a provincial capital and is perhaps the largest Inca site outside the department Cuzco. It is located on a great puma at 3600 masl with a great view on the surrounding mountains.

Huánuco Marka used to be a Royal Palace of the Incas and the capital of the provinces bordering on the Andes. Besides the palace, a temple to the sun and an Inca Bathroom are present in this site. The entire site is made of very large stones. The construction of the site started in 1460 and was interrupted by the Spaniards in 1539. The resident population of this site was relatively small; the population that was living in the communities around Huánuco Marka served the site. The site served as an administrative center, as well as a textile production center.

When the Spaniard conquistadors came, they start living a city close to the archeological site, as a result of this; the archeological site itself wasn’t being destroyed. Nowadays, a wire fence protects it and the National Institute of Culture maintains the site and is working on its restoration.

The tourists on the Inka Naani