Mancos is the main city of the Yungay Province, and is known as the “heart” of the Callejón de Huaylas for its location in the middle of the valley. The name derives of a colonial anecdote: after receiving the gold of the Inca rescue in Cajamarca, the spaniards lost the gold in the valley. However, they found it intact days later, so they concluded the inhabitants must be “mancos” (without hands) as they didn’t grab the gold for themselves. A different tradition argues that the same anecdote happened during the times of Simón Bolívar, although both versions rescue the honesty of the locals. Mancos was founded as a district the 2nd of January of 1857, and nowadays it is an attractive destinations for those interested in ecotourism.