Ausangate is the highest inhabited highland area in the Cusco region, the 6384 meters of Ausangate mountain makes it the highest mountain in Cusco and the 5th highest in Peru.

Ausangate is the only glacier visible from the city of Cusco. The geographical area is typical of the Andean altiplano and is culturally known as Puna. It is the favourite habitat of the pumas, the largest Andean felines, foxes and the American camelids (llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos) due to the large extensions of land little used by anthropic activities.
Agriculture has been with the inhabitants of this area since time immemorial, but even so, the territorial extension of this area is very large, giving space to the breeding of American camelids and the ample production of raw material for textile production.

The geography of the area is very varied, being very rich in high value minerals, from gold to lithium, currently gold is being mined illegally and there are many international mining companies that are speeding up their permits to exploit these places of life and epic landscapes. So it is a good idea to come to this area before mining depredates it, the rainbow mountain (very close to this area) had been given in concession to a mining company from canada but the rainbow mountain became a trend so fast that the mining company announced its withdrawal when the campaigns to protect the rainbow mountain had just started.

The Ausangate region is having more influence from the central government but even so it is very characteristic of the cultural tradition in the clothing, the places further away from the cities show more culture and with it extreme poverty but immaterial richness in their smiles and their way of living with the environment.

Ausangate is highly visited with day trips to see the glacier and some lagoons, known as the 7 lagoons tour. But this glacier is famous in the world for adventurers, to climb the glacier or to do a circular circuit expedition around the mountain and they usually do it in 5 or 6 days. IntiTravel.Org does it in 9 days for the therapeutic goal, to increase contact with nature and with yourself.