Termales de La Raya

Termales de La Raya occupy a high-altitude plateau in the southern Peruvian Andes near the La Raya mountain pass — one of the most elevated points on the historic railway line connecting Cusco and Puno — at an altitude where the altiplano grasslands stretch toward distant snowcapped peaks under an immense Andean sky. The pass at La Raya marks the watershed between the Urubamba and Vilcanota river systems, and the thermal springs here emerge from the volcanic and geothermal geology underlying this high-altitude corridor. The setting is stark, open, and magnificent, with the hot spring pools occupying a natural terrace visible from the railway and the main Cusco–Puno road.

The waters are a calcium-rich sodium-chloride spring at 35 °C with a near-neutral pH of 7.4 — gently warming, especially given the cold, thin air at this altitude where temperatures can drop sharply even in summer. The dual mineral character produces water with a pleasant density and mineral presence, and the warmth at over 4,000 metres elevation feels particularly acute against the wind. The balneario has served Andean travellers and local highland communities for generations, offering one of the few genuine thermal bathing facilities along this high plateau route between two of Peru's most historically significant cities.