Termales Pacchanta

Termales Pacchanta is a natural hot spring site near the Ausangate Mountain in the Cusipata area of Quispicanchi Province, Cusco Region, Peru, where bicarbonate springs emerge in the high puna landscape at approximately 4,400 metres altitude at the foot of Nevado Ausangate (6,384 m) — the most sacred mountain in the Cusco region and the spiritual guardian of the Quechua people, who make a 5-day pilgrimage circuit around its glaciers each year in the extraordinary Qoyllur Riti festival. The springs serve as the final campsite stop on the Ausangate Trek — one of Peru's most spectacular and physically demanding high-altitude circuits — where trekkers exhausted from days at extreme altitude amid glaciers, passes exceeding 5,000 metres, and puna wildlife including vicuña and Andean fox can soak in the warm bicarbonate waters amid the most awe-inspiring mountain scenery in the Cusco region. The sacred mountain setting, the extraordinary altitude of the spring, and the living Quechua spiritual tradition centred on Ausangate make Pacchanta one of the most atmospherically charged natural hot spring experiences in all of South America.