Maukallakta, Tajrachullo, María Fortaleza and the 3 Canyons of Suykutambo: a full day rich in experience and history
- elizabethcarlotto
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
Puno → Juliaca → Pucara → Ayaviri → Umachiri → Llalli → Espinar, crossing a pass above 4,500m. Approximate duration: 5.5 hours.
We left Puno at 2pm. We took the route through Juliaca, Pucara, then Ayaviri, and from there onto a road between small villages — Umachiri, Llalli — that almost no one travels, the kind of route you only learn about from someone local. We crossed a mountain pass above 4,500 meters, that point where the air thins and the landscape opens up at the same time. We reached Espinar at 7:50pm.
Espinar surprised me 3928 masl. I wasn't expecting a town with so much life — pizzerias, cafés, restaurants full of people, all sustained by the mining activity that drives the local economy. We stayed at a small fifteen-room hotel, warm and comfortable, exactly what you need after hours on the road and a mountain pass that reminds you exactly where you are.
The full day: Garganta del Diablo, Maukallaqta, Tajrachullo, and 3 Canyons
We had breakfast at 7:30am and headed toward the district of Coporaque. The first stop was Garganta del Diablo — a stretch where the river has carved the rock for thousands of years, leaving shapes that look hand-sculpted. The water, patient, did what no chisel ever could.
From there we continued to Maukallaqta, a site fully restored by Peru's cultural heritage institute, yet almost unvisited. Maukallaqta, "the Old Town," is the monumental legacy of the K'ana nation in Espinar. Its temples, plazas, chullpas, and terraces, suspended above the Apurímac canyon, narrate centuries of pre-Inca and Inca history in one of the most breathtaking landscapes of the Peruvian Andes.
And then we reached Tajrachullo — María Fortaleza.
Few Quechua names capture a place as precisely as this one: t'acra, bedrock; chullo, frozen water — a place where water naturally collects in stone basins, high on a rocky bluff above 4,000 meters, with the Virginniyoc canyon opening up in front of you. The Spanish renamed it María Fortaleza for its look of an impenetrable stronghold, but the original name already said everything.
What few people know is that Tajrachullo spans nearly 17 hectares and holds close to 600 structures — dwellings, staircases, fountains, funerary spaces — an area larger than Machu Picchu itself. It saw continuous occupation for thousands of years, with Wari, Qolla, and Inca presence layered one over another. It only fully opened to tourism in December 2024, after years of restoration work. Walking through its walls means walking through a place the world is only just beginning to discover.
We closed the day at the 3 Canyons viewpoint, in Suykutambo. It's about a 30-minute walk at an easy pace, climbing the rocky mountain, until you reach a view that leaves you speechless — three canyons stretching out as if the earth had opened on purpose, just so someone, someday, would stop there and look.
It was a full day in every sense: walking, sandwiches, water, and the constant feeling of seeing something that hasn't made it into any conventional travel guide yet.
How to get there
From Puno: Puno → Juliaca → Pucara → Ayaviri → Umachiri → Llalli → Espinar, crossing a pass above 4,500m. Approximate duration: 5.5 hours.
From Cusco: Cusco → Urcos → Sicuani → Espinar, via the Southern Interoceanic Highway. Approximate duration: 5 to 6 hours — practically the same travel time as from Puno, which makes this circuit just as accessible from either city.
Practical details
Espinar has solid lodging and dining options thanks to local mining activity
Next-day circuit: Garganta del Diablo → Maukallaqta → Tajrachullo/María Fortaleza → 3 Canyons viewpoint (Suykutambo)
Tajrachullo altitude: between 4,000–4,100 meters above sea level
Walk to the 3 Canyons viewpoint: roughly 30 minutes at an easy pace
Entry to the archaeological sites: free (tourism infrastructure still being formalized)
Recommended: warm clothing, sunscreen, water, and food — the area is remote with limited services
Best season: dry season, April through October
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