Rúpac

Rúpac sits on a ridge at about 3,500 metres above the Chancay valley, and it is the best-preserved of the Atavillos sites - a settlement of stone buildings, many of them kullpi, tall funerary and residential towers with corbelled stone roofs still intact after six or seven centuries, which is rare. The Atavillos were the people of these highlands before the Inca absorbed them. What has made Rúpac popular with Limeños is the cloud: on many mornings the valley below fills with a solid layer while the ridge stays clear, so people camp overnight and wake above a white sea, and the site is marketed as the Machu Picchu limeño, which oversells it. The climb from Florida is three to four hours, steep and exposed, and almost everyone camps at the top because there is no way to do it as a day trip from Lima.

What you actually see

• The kullpi towers - stone buildings with corbelled roofs still standing intact.
• The cloud layer - the valley filling below the ridge on many mornings.
• The Atavillos - a pre-Inca highland people of the Chancay headwaters.
• The setting - a ridge at 3,500 metres with no road access.

When to go

May to October for the cloud inversions and dry paths. Two days, camping at the site; guides and mules can be arranged in Florida. Weekends are busy.

Honest expectations

A steep three to four hour climb with full camping gear, at altitude. No water at the top - carry it all. Nights are cold. The site can be crowded with weekend campers, and litter has become a problem. The cloud sea is weather-dependent and does not always appear.

Nearby

Florida is the trailhead village; Huaral and the coast road are west.