Route of the Sun: Cusco to Puno

Between Cusco and Puno lie some ten hours of road that most people cover overnight on a direct bus, asleep. This route turns them into the most interesting stretch of the trip. The stops build a timeline: Andahuaylillas and its 17th-century church covered in murals and gold leaf; Raqchi, which preserves the twelve-metre central wall of the Wiracocha temple, the largest roofed building the Incas ever raised; and Pukará, a culture older than all the others in the area. Midway you cross La Raya, the high point of the journey at 4,335 metres and the divide between the Amazon and Titicaca basins.