Huayna Picchu

Huayna Picchu is the steep peak that appears behind Machu Picchu in every photograph of it, rising about 260 metres above the site to 2,693 metres. The Inca cut a stairway up it and built terraces and a small temple complex near the summit, including the structure called the Temple of the Moon in a cave on the far side. The climb takes forty-five minutes to an hour and a half depending on fitness and traffic, on stone steps that are steep, narrow, worn smooth, wet in the mornings and exposed in sections where a slip would be fatal - cables are fixed at the worst points and people have died here. Numbers are capped and controlled: entry requires the specific circuit ticket that includes the peak, sold in limited daily slots that go months in advance, with entry times enforced and names checked at a control point.

What you actually see

• The Inca stairway - steps cut up the cliff, steep, narrow and exposed.
• The summit terraces - Inca construction near the top of the peak.
• The Temple of the Moon - the cave complex on the far side.
• The view down - Machu Picchu laid out 260 metres below.

When to go

April to October, the dry season - the steps are dangerous when wet. Book the circuit ticket months in advance; slots are capped and sell out.

Honest expectations

Steep, exposed and genuinely dangerous in places - people have fallen and died. Not suitable for anyone afraid of heights. The permit is a separate limited ticket sold months ahead and cannot be bought at the gate. Entry times are enforced.

Nearby

Machu Picchu is directly below; Aguas Calientes is at the foot of the mountain.