Q’enqo and Puka Pukara are the two City Tour stops almost nobody remembers the next day, and that is a shame: one is a sanctuary carved into a single rock, with an underground chamber where the bodies of nobles were prepared, and the other is a checkpoint on the Inca road with a view over the whole Cusco valley. They are ten minutes apart by vehicle, between Sacsayhuaman and Tambomachay, and are visited with the same ticket. This guide tells you what to look at in each so they are not just two fifteen-minute stops.
Q’enqo: the labyrinth huaca
Four kilometres from the Plaza de Armas and 3,580 metres up, a kilometre beyond Sacsayhuaman, Q’enqo is a limestone outcrop the Incas turned into a sanctuary almost without building anything: they carved it. The name comes from the Quechua q’inqu, zigzag or labyrinth, after the winding channels cut into the top of the rock.
- The amphitheatre. A semicircular plaza with nineteen trapezoidal niches around an eroded monolith that tradition identifies as a puma. It was the stage for ceremonies.
- The zigzag channels. On the summit, grooves into which chicha or llama blood was poured; the direction the liquid took was read as an omen.
- The underground chamber. Beneath the rock, a carved room with a stone table interpreted as a place for embalming nobles or for sacrifices. It is cool, dark and the most striking part.
- The intihuatana. Remains of an observatory on top, with views over the city.
The visit takes about 30 minutes. There is a short stairway up and carved steps down to the chamber; in the rain the rock is slippery.
Puka Pukara: the red fortress
Seven kilometres from Cusco and about 3,700 metres up, on the Pisac road, Puka Pukara is a set of walls, plazas, aqueducts and rooms on a knoll. The name means “red fortress” for the colour the limestone takes at sunset, but it was not a fortress: it was a tambo, a checkpoint and rest station on the road to Antisuyo, the jungle region, where those entering and leaving Cusco were checked and retinues were lodged. The stonework is rustic, without the fine joints of Qorikancha, and that tells the story too: it was a service building, not a temple.
The best part is the view: from the upper platform you see the whole valley, with Tambomachay a kilometre away. The visit takes 15 to 20 minutes.
How to get there and how to link them
Both are on the Cusco–Pisac road. From the square, by vehicle, Q’enqo is 15 minutes away and Puka Pukara 25. Between them there are five minutes of road. From Puka Pukara you can walk to Tambomachay along a one-kilometre path, about 15 almost flat minutes; the City Tour usually drives it to save time. The maps for each stretch are in how to get to each City Tour site.
Ticket and opening hours
Both are visited with the Cusco Tourist Ticket, full or Circuit I partial, the same as Sacsayhuaman and Tambomachay. They open from seven in the morning to six in the evening. There is no individual ticket.
Best time
Puka Pukara deserves sunset, when the stone really does turn red; it is the only City Tour stop that improves in the afternoon. Q’enqo, with its dark chamber, is the same at any hour, but emptier before ten.
Frequently asked questions
Are Q’enqo and Puka Pukara worth the stop?
Yes, if the guide explains what they were for. As five-minute photo stops, no. On a private tour you give them as long as you like; in large groups they tend to be the stretch that gets cut.
Can they be visited without the City Tour?
Yes, by taxi from Cusco with waiting time, or by combining the Pisac bus with the downhill walk Tambomachay–Puka Pukara–Q’enqo–Sacsayhuaman, about 8 kilometres, for anyone already acclimatised.
Is there much walking?
No. At Q’enqo, a stairway and the descent to the chamber; at Puka Pukara, a stroll across the platforms. They are the two gentlest stops on the route.
What does Puka Pukara mean?
“Red fortress” in Quechua. The red is the colour of the rock at sunset; the real function was that of a tambo, a road checkpoint.
Follow the route
- Cusco Private City Tour: the five stops in half a day.
- Sacsayhuaman, the previous stop.
- All our Cusco city tours.
