BAÑOS DE LARES HOT SPRING – PERU

May 1, 2017 SouthAmerica

MAY FEATURED BAÑOS DE LARES

The Lares hot springs, located well north of Cusco in southern Peru, has seven outdoor pools with tall stone walls, grassy fields, and outdoor showers that the locals use for bathing, following a practice documented to extend back to the time of the Incas. Baños de Lares is about 28-km directly northeast of Ollantaytambo ruins and 41-km north of Cuzco (about a 3 hour trip with hired car). Once in the Sacred Valley, from the fork at the town of Calca, it is a 55-km drive to the hot springs (-13.111467, -72.056004). The initial part of the road is paved, the upper segment over the high pass is on a narrow dirt road, and the descent to the town of Lares is just as interesting. The town of Lares if very small, but does have a few basic hostels and restaurants. From the dirt parking lot, a stone-lined pathway goes down to the circular stone hut ticket booth (entrance price of 10 Soles). The hot springs are at an elevation of 3,278 meters. The Lares hot springs are open from 4 a.m. until 10 p.m. The place usually very crowded on the weekends and holidays.

The main rectangular swimming pool is inset in the complex surrounded with Inca-style stonework walls and has rather rusty opaque water. The iron content of the water comes from the geothermal fluids that dissolved disseminated pyrite in the surrounding country rock of black Ordovician slate. In 1865 the national geographer Antonio Raimondi had camped here, setting up his travelling laboratory while studying the waters. He reported the water temperatures to vary between 42 and 45ºC. The water in the spring vent is currently at 47ºC.

The onsite small hostel of Rumiwasi charges 20 Soles for bare-boned rooms. Basic accommodation can also be found in the towns of Lares or in Calca. The advantage of visiting Baños de Lares is that is off the main tourist circuits running between Cusco and Machu Picchu, providing the visitor a break from the near constant sales pressures one finds near the main attractions.

As published in “Hot Springs of the Andes”