La Unión travel guide

La Unión is a regional supply town, with a large prison on the outskirts. The Plaza de Armas has a church with an interesting bell-tower but is not the centre of activity. Most shops are along two parallel streets: Jirón Dos de Mayo and Jirón Comercio. Although many people are friendly and helpful, tourists may nonetheless find themselves the object of much unwanted attention. The town straddles the Río Vizcarra. Electricity can be a problem and it gets very cold at night but there are good hot baths at Tauripampa, 5 km up the Vizcarra valley, US$0.50 per person. The Royal Inca Road runs north, just upriver from the baths on the north side of the valley, to Huari and south to Huánuco Pampa (Huánuco Viejo) and beyond. There is an INC office , which may have information about the road and associated archaeological sites.

You can hike to the Cordillera Raura from Laguna Lauricocha. To reach the lake from La Unión take a camioneta to Baños, then take another camioneta from there to Antacolpa. It’s half a day’s walk to the lake from here. In 1959, caves were discovered by the lake, containing 9500-year-old human remains and some paintings. This is where the Río Marañón rises, eventually becoming the Ucayali and then Amazon rivers, before spilling into the Atlantic Ocean, 5800 km away to the east.