“La Puerta de Hayu Marka” (also known as “The Gateway To The Gods”, “Aramu Muru” and “The Doorway of the Amaru Meru.”)d 35 kms from Puno, that it was located high up in the mountains, and that the mysterious door was nearly inaccessible. All of this, however, proved to be incredibly inaccurate.
If you too are looking to travel to the Gateway of the Gods, hang tight, because I’ll tell you exactly how to get there.
Our journey began in Puno, Peru. We took a combi bus out of town and paid 2 Soles for a ride to nearby Acora. Once there, we began asking around for “La Puerta de Hayu Marka”, but none of the locals knew what we were talking about. I tried asking for “la Puerta mystico”, but that too was received with nothing but confused stares. After some time, we were led to believe that the door was further south… and that in order to get there we would need to travel to the city of Ilave.
After a short wait for a another combi to come along, we paid a couple more Soles and traveled to nearby Ilave. Once there, we met a local man who knew about the door and told us where to go. He put us in a local motortaxi (which cost 1.5 Soles) and our driver took us across town to another small combi pick-up point. Once here, we jumped in a crowded bus bound for the village of Santiago…. and it was here that we were let off.
To out left was nothing but flat farmland and the shores of Lake Titicaca. To our right were a small range of hills and rock formations. Surely, if the Gateway to the Gods were anywhere nearby, it was going to be on the right-hand side.
But a short walk up the road and there it was… The Gateway to the Gods!
The image below shoes the doorway carved into the rock on the left-hand side of the image. The doorway is in the shadows, but you can see it there if you look closely.
The photo below shows Lake Titicaca on the left (you can just barely see it there in the distance), the farming community of Santiago in the middle, and the Puerta de Hayu Marka down in the shadows on the right-hand side of the image.
Do you want to visit the Gateway To the Gods (aka La Puerta De Hau Marka?)Don’t trust the other information you find on the Internet.
The Gateway is not 35 kms from Puno. In reality, it is probably about twice that distance.
The Gateway is not hard to reach. In fact, it is right by the side of the road and is very easy to walk to.
The Gateway is not far up in the mountains. It is on nearly flat ground, but it does have some small hills, mountains and rock formations nearby.
Here is how you get to the Gateway:
To get the The Gateway of the Gods from Puno, Peru, take a combi bus toward Ilave and exit there. Once in Illave, take a combi toward the village of Santiago. Exit the bus in Santiago and walk a shot distance up the road to the east while looking for a small blue sign pointing you to the right down a short dirt road. Go down that road just 100 meters or so and there, on your right-hand side, you will see the Gateway to the Gods.