Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve

The reserve covers the headwaters of the Cañete river in the mountains between Lima and Junín, and its centrepiece is the stretch around the villages of Huancaya and Vilca, where the river runs over travertine ledges into a chain of pools the colour of glacier melt. The ledges are built by mineral deposition, so the whole staircase is slowly growing. Stone bridges cross the river at several points and a walking route follows the bank between the two villages. Above the valley the ground rises to lakes, peat bog and glaciated peaks. The valley floor sits at around 3,500 metres.

What you actually see

• The Huancaya cascades - the staircase of turquoise pools and travertine ledges below the village.
• The stone bridges - old arched crossings over the river between Huancaya and Vilca.
• The high lakes - lagoons above the valley on the way towards the Pariacaca massif.
• Vilca village - the quieter settlement upstream, with more cascades below it.

When to go

April to November is dry, and the water is clearest and bluest once the rains have stopped. The wet season turns the pools cloudy and brown and makes the road slow. Long weekends and Peruvian holidays fill the small guesthouses in Huancaya, so book. The drive from Lima is long enough to need a night at each end.

Honest expectations

Getting there is the real cost: eight to ten hours on a road that is unpaved for long stretches and slow in either direction. Accommodation in the villages is basic and heating is rare at 3,500 metres, where the nights are genuinely cold. Swimming is allowed only in designated pools and the water is freezing. Weekend crowds concentrate on one short section.

Nearby

The road continues over the pass towards Huancayo, and Lunahuaná lies downstream near the coast.