Quiñota – Haquira – Progreso – Chuquibambilla – Lambrama – Abancay
A pleasant route in Apurimac on quiet, though used, ripio roads. This route goes through more populated areas than most of the Peruvian routes described on this website and there are conveniently placed villages and towns along the road meaning you can stay in an hospedaje every night if desired. The road crosses many valleys so there is a good deal of climbing to do, with three 4,000m passes to cross. The gradients aren’t steep though and the surface is good almost all the time. As these roads are in areas that used to be the heartland of the Sendero Luminoso local residents are not used to seeing many foreigners and as a result are extremely friendly.
| Total dist. | Stage dist. | Description |
| 0km | Quiñota (3,540m). Small town with internet, accommodation, shops, restaurants. | |
| 10.8km | Leave Quiñota on the road to Haquira. Gentle climb on an excellent surface to the pass. Nice views. | |
| 10.8km | Abra Acopunco (4,042m – GPS01). | |
| 27.7km | Beautiful descent for 9.8kms to the village of Llac-Hua (3,540m). Further 5.8km descent to the river and Puente Calicanto (3,190m). Nice gentle 12.1km climb to Haquira. Surface all good. | |
| 38.5km | Haquira (3,700m). Small town with internet, accommodation, shops, restaurants. Impressive colonial ‘rock jail’ and beautiful old church in the plaza. | |
| 7.0km | Leave Haquira on the road to Progreso. Gentle climb on excellent surface to the pass. | |
| 45.5km | Abra Huancacalla (3,980m – GPS02). | |
| 13.3km | Descend to Challhuahuacho. There was lots of road work going on when we passed so the surface was bad but this will probably change, as will the distance as we had to take lots of desvios. | |
| 58.8km | Challhuahuacho (3,730m). Large village with shops, restaurants (and maybe accommodation – we didn’t ask). | |
| 30.1km | Continue through Challhua on the road to Progreso. Slow climb with the odd descent. Pass through a small village after 15.1kms, then get to the start of zigzags after a further 10.3kms. Climb gently for 4.7kms more to the pass. Surface mostly good. | |
| 88.9km | Abra Progreso (4,452m – GPS03). | |
| 13.0km | Descend to Progreso. Very good surface. | |
| 101.9km | Junction at start of Progreso (3,890m). Go R for town (accommodation, restaurants, good internet, shops) or L over a small bridge to continue to Chuquibambilla. | |
| 25.2km | Mostly descent for 17.9kms to the village of Casanca. Then a further 7.3kms of beautiful descent into a quebrada. | |
| 127.1km | Cross the Rio Taramayo on a bridge (3,320m). | |
| 10.9km | Gentle climb for 7.1kms to the village of Curasco (shops, restaurant), then climb 3.8kms more to a pass. Road deteriorates after Curasco, but is still not too bad. | |
| 138.0km | Abra Curasco (3,740m – GPS04). | |
| 25.5km | Quite flat for 8.1kms, then begin proper descent on a bumpy road. 4.2kms after beginning to descend, pass through the village of Ayrihuanca (3,530m, and which later on TV we saw has a famous old church), then descend on switchbacks for 13.2kms to Vilcabamba. Still bumpy but not too bad a surface. | |
| 163.5km | Vilcabamba (2,770m). Village with shops, accommodation and restaurants. | |
| 17.0km | Reasonably gentle climb up river valley to Chuquibambilla. | |
| 180.5km | Chuquibambilla (3,360m). Town with internet, shops, accommodation and restaurants. | |
| 28.0km | Climb through town then continue up up up. Gentle gradients, surface ok. Pass a small reservoir at 4,550m, just before the zigzags begin. | |
| 208.5km | Abra Llullita (4,658m – GPS05). | |
| 38.7km | Descend 50m by a lake, then climb up to nearly the same height as the pass, 3.1kms from the pass. Then all descent to Lambrama. | |
| 247.2km | Lambrama (3,145m). Large village with accommodation, restaurants, shops, internet. | |
| 37.7km | All descent to main road, apart from a 100m climb as you near the tarmac. | |
| 284.9km | Join main Nazca-Abancay highway (1,810m – GPS06). Go R for Abancay. (If coming from Abancay, the turn-off is just after a petrol station, and is signposted ‘Grau’). | |
| 16.3km | Descend to 1,750m then an easy and uninteresting 675m climb to Abancay. | |
| 301.2km | Abancay (2,420m). City with all facilities. |
| Details | |
| Time taken – 4 days and amount climbed – 5,520m | 4 hours: Quiñota – Haquira (950m climb). 6 hours: Haquira – Progreso (1,100m climb). 7 hours: Progreso – Chuquibambilla (1,270m climb). 6 hours: Chuquibambilla – Lambrama (1,370m climb). 4 hours: Lambrama – Abancay (830m climb). |
| Traffic | A few an hour from Quiñota to Progreso. A little more from there to Chuquibambilla, Lambrama and the paving. Lots on the main highway. |
| When we cycled | Early November 2010. |
| Difficulty | 3 |
| How much we had to push on this route | Not at all |
| GPS Point | Description | Lat/Long/Altitude |
| GPS01 | Abra Acopunco | 14.2617 S, 72.1352 W, 4,042m. |
| GPS02 | Abra Huancacalla | 14.1807 S, 72.2099 W, 3,980m. |
| GPS03 | Abra Progreso | 14.1173 S, 72.4362 W, 4,452m. |
| GPS04 | Abra Curasco | 14.0723 S, 72.5774 W, 3,740m. |
| GPS05 | Abra Llullita | 14.0086 S, 72.7982 W, 4,658m. |
| GPS06 | Join paved highway | 13.6885 S, 72.9146 W, 1,810m. |
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