Socoroma

Socoroma sits at about 3,000 metres on the old caravan route between the coast at Arica and the altiplano, below Putre, and the slopes around it are terraced - andenes built to hold soil and water on ground that is otherwise too steep and too dry to farm, worked now for oregano above all, which Socoroma sells across Chile. The village is Aymara, with a church of the seventeenth century, stone-paved lanes and a plaza. It stands on a stretch of the Inca road, and the Qhapaq Nan sections in this region form part of the inscription UNESCO made across six countries in 2014.

What you actually see

• Terraces on steep dry ground - andenes holding soil and water.
• Oregano as the crop - sold from here across Chile.
• A seventeenth century church - on a stone-paved plaza.
• A stretch of the Inca road - part of the Qhapaq Nan network.

When to go

April to November; the summer rains affect the roads. Half a day.

Honest expectations

At 3,000 metres altitude begins to be felt, and Putre above is higher still. The village is small with almost no services. Most people pass through on the way up to Lauca rather than stopping.

Nearby

Putre is above; Arica is down the road west.