The Temple of the Moon sits carved into a limestone outcrop above Cusco's northern valley, its ceremonial niches invisible from the road below. Inca stonemasons hollowed a natural cave into a stepped altar complex between 1400 and 1533, aligning interior passages with solstice light. Spanish chroniclers recorded the site's name—Killa Rumi, Moon Stone—but left no account of the rituals performed inside its shadowed chambers. The temple anchors a network of trails that once linked Sacsayhuamán's military terraces to Qenqo's sacrificial platforms, a ceremonial corridor walked by priests and now ridden by visitors on horseback. Horseback riding tour Cusco circuits depart from stables in the Sacred Valley and follow pre-Columbian pathways through eucalyptus groves and irrigated maize fields. Peruvian Paso and Criollo horses, bred for endurance at altitude, carry riders across terrain that climbs from 3,400 to 3,700 meters. The ascent to the Temple of the Moon takes between ninety minutes and two hours depending on the route, passing Inkilltambo's agricultural terraces and the rock formations that give Devil's Balcony its name. Guides interpret carved serpent motifs and trapezoidal doorways as riders dismount to enter the temple's interior galleries. The region's equestrian infrastructure developed after tourism expanded in the 1990s, when local families converted grazing land into riding operations. Five primary circuits now serve the archaeological zone: a direct route to the temple, a combined ascent to Chacán Mountain's 3,890-meter summit, a half-day loop to Devil's Balcony's cantilevered cliffs, a cultural ride to Inkilltambo with Pachamama offerings, and an extended tour linking multiple Inca sites across the valley. Each departs daily between six and nine in the morning, when mist lifts from the Vilcanota River and reveals the Andes' eastern ridges. The Temple of the Moon opens at six and closes at five, with no entrance fee collected at the site itself. Riders access the complex via a path marked by colonial-era boundary stones, the final fifty meters requiring a steep walk the horses cannot navigate. Inside, natural light penetrates carved ventilation shafts, illuminating granite surfaces polished by centuries of ritual contact. The altar's central niche measures one meter square, its base worn smooth where offerings were placed. Modern visitors find the temple quiet—fewer than two hundred people reach it on an average weekday—making horseback riding tours the primary method of arrival for those unwilling to hike the unpaved access trail from the Qenqo parking area.