Laguna de Pacucha

Pacucha is a lake of around thirty square kilometres at about 3,100 metres, set in a basin of farmland north-east of Andahuaylas, with villages around the shore and eucalyptus down to the water. It is a working landscape rather than a wilderness - maize and potato fields, cattle, small restaurants serving trout, rowing boats for hire at the main village - and it is the standard afternoon outing from Andahuaylas. The road that runs around it continues to Sóndor, the hilltop complex above the lake associated with the Chanka, the confederation that fought the Inca for control of this region in the fifteenth century and lost; the two are normally visited together. Birds use the shallows and reed beds in reasonable numbers. A local legend, like others attached to Andean lakes, has a town drowned beneath the water.

What you actually see

• The lake - about thirty square kilometres in a basin of farmland at 3,100 metres.
• The shore villages - trout restaurants, boats and fields down to the water.
• The Sóndor road - the route continuing to the Chanka hilltop complex.
• The birdlife - ducks, coots and waders in the reed beds.

When to go

May to September for dry roads and clearer weather. Two to three hours, or half a day combined with Sóndor. Weekends are busier with local visitors.

Honest expectations

A local leisure lake with basic facilities, not a scenic reserve. Boats are simple and safety equipment is inconsistent. At 3,100 metres, Andahuaylas visitors arriving by air feel it. Water quality varies; swimming is not recommended.

Nearby

Sóndor is above the lake; Andahuaylas is south-west.