These extensive Inca ruins perch on a swathe of barren pampa (pampas grass) at 3700m. It’s a two-hour trek on a steep path from behind the market via a water storage facility. Mini-vans leaving from the market place at 5am, as well as other vehicles, can take you to within a 30-minute walk of the site. A key figure in the Inca resistance against the Spanish, Illa Tupac defended Huánuco Viejo until 1543, significantly after many Inca settlements had fallen.
There are 2 sq km of ruins and supposedly more than 1000 buildings and storehouses in total at Huánuco Viejo. Most impressive is the usnu, a huge 4m-high ceremonial platform with engravings of animals (monkeys with lion faces) adorning the entrance.
