Incallajta

Incallajta was built in the late fifteenth century under Tupac Yupanqui on a terrace above the Machajmarca river, an administrative and military centre on the eastern frontier of the empire where the Andes fall toward the lowlands and the Inca state faced the Chiriguano peoples. It covers around eighty hectares with a defensive wall, terraces, storehouses, residential compounds and a rock outcrop used as an observatory, and its outstanding structure is the kallanka, a great hall some seventy-eight metres by twenty-five with a gabled end wall still standing, the largest known roofed Inca building. Little else in Bolivia approaches its scale. Access is a rough road from the Cochabamba to Santa Cruz highway, and the site is quiet with few visitors.

What you actually see

• The great kallanka - the seventy-eight metre hall and its standing gable.
• Defensive walls - the fortification along the site's approach.
• Terraces and storehouses - the administrative and agricultural buildings.
• The observatory rock - the carved outcrop above the complex.

When to go

April to October for the road and the walking; the wet season makes the access track difficult and the river crossings awkward. Mornings avoid the heat on the open terraces.

Honest expectations

The access road is rough and takes an hour off the highway; a four-wheel drive is advisable. Interpretation on site is limited. There are no facilities. Visits are usually full-day trips from Cochabamba with a driver.

Nearby

Totora lies southeast; Cochabamba is west.