Humantay Lake Peru Day Trip, is a popular day trip from Cusco, Peru. It’s a turquoise lake situated high in the Andes at 4,200 meters above sea level, and it’s known locally as Laguna Humantay Cusco.

Humantay Lake is named after the Humantay Mountain, which is covered in snow. The lake is nestled in the foothills of the mountains. It gets its water from the hill’s melting snow.

On the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu, this is the first halt. Since the Inca period, the Andean people have revered Humantay Lake in Peru. This is largely due to their reverence of natural entities for a successful harvest.

Shamans (Andean priests) still make the pilgrimage up to the lagoon to give Apacheta. It’s a way of thanking Mother Earth (Pachamama) for following them on their journey by stacking stones on top of each other.

Humantay Lake Peru is only accessible by a 1.5-hour hike from Soraypampa. If you don’t want to hike, you can rent a horse for an extra fee.

Because Laguna Humantay Cusco is a high-altitude trip, we strongly advise that you spend at least two days in Cusco to adapt and avoid altitude sickness before embarking on the full-day climb.