Cusco's Old Southern Gateway

A full day in Cusco’s South Valley with an archaeologist, tracing the civilizations that shaped the Andes, from the Wari to the Inca and the colonial era. The sites lie an hour’s drive from Cusco, so the day starts early, with a stop in Oropesa, declared Peru’s national Capital of Bread in 2022. Most of the town makes its living baking, and you’ll pick up pan chuta fresh from the oven. Andahuaylillas is the first site: its San Pedro Church (known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas) fuses Indigenous artistic traditions and European sacred imagery. At Rumicolca, a monumental stone gateway shows how the Incas adapted existing infrastructure. At Pikillacta, you walk through a carefully planned city built by the Wari, whose influence extended across the Andes centuries before the Incas. Lunch is a gourmet picnic beside Huacarpay Lake. The South Valley exploration ends at Tipón, an impressive network of Inca agricultural terraces and stone-lined waterways.

Cusco’s South Valley is often overlooked in favor of the Sacred Valley, which is a shame: its sites raise fascinating questions about cultural exchange, political power, and adaptation, and they’re quieter. Delsi, who has worked at Pikillacta, is glad to get into the debates. The church at Andahuaylillas is a surprise: its two organs are considered the oldest in the Americas, and the baptistery is inscribed in five languages. At Rumicolca, you’ll weigh whether the Wari built it as an aqueduct or a gate. Delsi’s commentary at Pikillacta covers their mortuary practices and religious cults, and Wari architects’ solutions to harsh highland conditions. From there, you’ll spot Huacarpay Lake, a protected wetland, and wish you could go. You will, for lunch. At Tipón, you’ll see how the Incas harnessed water to cultivate the land. It flows through the channels to this day, showing the ingenuity of an engineering system the American Society of Civil Engineers lists as a historic landmark.

Delsi Espinoza is a fully licensed archaeologist from San Sebastián, Cusco. Since graduating from the Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco in 2014, she has led excavation projects, maintenance programs, and education initiatives across the region, working directly with Peru’s Ministry of Culture, international organizations, and local municipalities. Her work has taken her to archaeological parks including Machu Picchu, Sacsayhuamán, and Pikillacta, as well as the Urubamba valley. Delsi co-hosts with either Daniel, her husband and business partner and a fellow archaeologist from Ireland, or her sister Yessika, an economist and cultural educator from Cusco. Both translate Delsi’s commentary into English and add their own knowledge and insights.

Your original passport or national ID card is mandatory to enter the sites. Sun and rain protection, depending on the season. Light layers or a sweater. Walking or hiking shoes for uneven ground. A small daypack with water and a camera. Photos aren’t allowed inside the church at Andahuaylillas. Tissues and hand sanitizer, since some site restrooms may not have toilet paper or soap. ** Let Daniel and Delsi know about any dietary needs via Fernwayer Chat after booking.