Naupa Iglesia is a mysterious little cave temple dug high into the cliffside. No one actually knows for sure what it is or what it was built for, but essentially, it’s an altar carved into an overhang in the mountain. It’s thought to have been an ancient Incan ceremonial site and it’s still very much a spiritual place today, often used for ayahuasca ceremonies.
It’s a fascinating spot, which is free to visit and remains largely off the tourist radar - yet it’s a short easy adventure you can easily do independently from nearby Ollantaytambo.
Here’s how to find it and what to expect when you do.
The walk to Naupa Iglesia
The stats
Distance: 1.1km return
Elevation gain: 70m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
Summary: There are various routes you can take to reach Naupa Iglesia, and in this guide we’re describing the shortest, easiest walk. Although the majority of the trail is quite a steep uphill climb, if you take the right path (which we’ll describe below) it’s all on good stone stairs. There is another path up the hill which has a bit of loose rock, that makes it slightly harder.
There is a short traverse along the hillside on a narrow path, which is easy enough, as you don’t feel that close to the edge.
If you follow our directions you can’t get lost and don’t need a guide.
The trail
From the parking area (full details below) you head up the obvious dirt path for 30m. You will then begin walking alongside the train line. This is an active train line, so you need to be mindful, but it’s by no means a busy route.
There is room to walk a little distance from the tracks and it’s only a 110m section of the trail. You would hear a train coming and be able to wait for it to pass before you even set foot on the path beside the tracks, so it’s nothing to worry about. The views are astounding from here, as they are throughout the Sacred Valley.
The huge red mountains tower over you and it reminded us a lot of the American Southwest, just stunning.
Roughly 130m from the parking area you will see a large black rock and the path begins heading uphill.
You will see the steep stone stairs leading up the mountainside, beginning at the foot of a steep cliff face.
You could follow these steps, but they are the ones which have some loose rock and a bit of a scramble part way up.
This section, though short, could be dodgy when wet. I didn’t even particularly like it when dry.
Instead you want to look for a cairn - in this case, a big rock with a pile of rocks on top (you can see in the picture below). Follow the path that runs parallel to the terraces - it’s well worn and flat.
After briefly following this path, you’ll come to a set of stairs that seem to go endlessly up through the middle of the terraces.
Unlike the first set, these stairs don’t have any slippery sections. They are steep and uneven, but well formed and easy to walk on.
After 130m climbing these steep steps you will see a much flatter gravel path branching off to the right. Follow this path for 70m and you will come to the cave.
The Naupa Iglesia Cave Temple
You can climb up into the cave from either side of the altar, it’s just a few steps and though a touch loose, it’s easy enough. The inside of the cave has truly fabulous views over the valley and steep red mountains.
The alta
r itself looks like something out of a movie set, with three ‘thrones’. It’s a really cool spot with a definite air of mystery about it.
When we first arrived there was some kind of ceremony taking place, so we waited outside for it to finish. The smell of incense and sound of the beating drums really added to the atmosphere for us.
There is plenty of room to wait outside the cave, including by a small ruin to the left if you also arrive to find it occupied.
There were offerings of coca leaves and flower petals in the recesses of the altar, which I imagine are usually there as it is often used for ceremonies.
There is also a large ruin to the right of the cave, again we sadly don’t know what it was for.
Heading down and a quick detour
If you follow the same route back, the descent is easy. Steep, but not slippery (when dry) and the steps allow you to make quick work of the descent.
However, you can make a detour to see a second, much smaller cave. It’s 100m from the cave altar, located on the other side of the terraces.
We saw it on the way up when taking the dodgier path, but it’s easiest to go via the good set of steps you came up to the altar on and then instead of descending straight away, make your way across the terrace to the other side of the mountain.
Again there are multiple terraces you could cross, so just pick the one that looks best to you, as early on as possible, as the cave is high up on the mountain, so you don’t want to descend too far.
It’s small and not a must do, but it was full of coca leaves and petals and worth a little peek.
Personally, I would then cross back over to the nice stairs again, so you have the easiest possible descent.
Naupa Iglesia entry fee and opening hours
At time of writing Naupa Iglesia is free and can be visited at any time. This may change in the future, so please let us know if you visit and an entry fee is being charged, so we can update the post.
Where to start the shortest route to Naupa Iglesia
The parking area for Naupa Iglesia is pretty small, but there’s a gravelled pull out off the road just in front of a big concrete sign marked “Parque Arqueologico Ollantaytambo Naupaiglesia”. It’s just after the point where the train line crosses the road.
It’s also marked on Google Maps as “Trailhead to Perolniyoc Catarata and Ruins” - you can see the exact spot by clicking here. The trailhead is 9km from Ollantaytambo and takes about 20 minutes to drive to.
The road to get to Naupa Iglesia is sealed, but when we visited there were roadworks happening at Pachar - the village by the bridge where you turn off Highway 28B - and a short section was a temporary dirt road.
We had a rental car so drove ourselves, but you could also get a taxi to drop you off (and wait for you as this is a very quiet area). You could also take a collectivo from Ollanta to Pachar, which is going to be a slightly longer walk, but still very doable.
Where we stayed in Ollantaytambo
Sol Exclusive Ollantaytambo
We stayed in Sol Exclusive Ollantaytambo, a one minute walk from the main square. The reason we picked it is that Peru can be a very noisy place and if you get a room by the river here, that’s all you’ll hear. We slept to the sound of rushing water, rather than music or other noise common in most Peruvian towns.
The rooms are ok, nothing to write home about, but the beds are large and very comfy. The shower pressure was good, although on one of our four nights I could only get tepid water. We slept really well here, so though it’s quite basic, we were very happy with our stay.
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