Torre Torre

Torre Torre sits on the slope directly above Huancayo, past the Cerrito de la Libertad, where a bed of soft red clay and gravel has been cut by rain into a field of freestanding pinnacles - some fifteen or twenty metres tall, capped by harder stones that protected the column beneath from erosion, the same mechanism that makes hoodoos and earth pyramids elsewhere. The name simply means tower tower, doubled in the Quechua manner for emphasis. It is a short walk or a cheap taxi from the centre, which makes it the standard afternoon outing in Huancayo, and paths run between and around the columns with the whole Mantaro valley below. The formation is soft and actively eroding; climbing on the towers damages them and is unsafe. The hillside is otherwise dry grassland with eucalyptus, and there is little shade.

What you actually see

• The towers - red clay pinnacles up to fifteen or twenty metres, capped by hard stones.
• The erosion - the same capstone mechanism that forms hoodoos elsewhere.
• The valley view - Huancayo and the Mantaro valley spread out below.
• The name - Quechua doubling, tower tower, for emphasis.

When to go

May to September when the ground is dry; the clay turns to slick mud in the rains. Late afternoon for light. Two to three hours including the walk from the city.

Honest expectations

The material is soft and crumbling - do not climb on the columns. Little shade and strong sun at 3,300 metres. The approach passes through outlying neighbourhoods; go in daylight and in company. Litter is a persistent problem on the site.

Nearby

The Cerrito de la Libertad is on the way up; central Huancayo is below.