Laguna de Huacarpay

This guide to Laguna de Huacarpay near Cusco starts underground, with a water system the Wari people built over a thousand years ago that still moves rainwater through these hills. It follows the walled Wari city of Pikillaqta on the ridge above, the quarry and farm labor that fed it, and how Inca farmers later reused the same canals when the city emptied out. You'll hear about the totora reeds families still cut and weave by hand, and the fishermen and bird life that still depend on this wetland today. Look toward the shoreline for the reed beds where that centuries-old craft continues.