Description of the experience
Sacred Valley of the Incas, Lares Valley, Off the beaten track, stunning mountains scenery, High Mountain passes, quieter trails, local villages, women weaving, less tourists, Quechua speaking people, Hot spring, the route of the weavers, Andean communities with real descendant of the Incas, llama shepherds.
An amazing alternative to the Inca Trail and slightly easier than the Salcantay trek, this 4 day trek takes you off the beaten track in the Andes Mountains with a lot of opportunities to interact with the local people and the real Andean communities. The trek ends at the wonder of the world: Machu Picchu
We depart early in the morning to Calca through the Sacred Valley of the Incas enjoying the stunning scenery. Then we ascend by bus towards the Hualcapunku pass (4,500m/14,847ft), once here we enjoy the spectacular views of snow-capped mountains, rural communities and valleys with plenty of llamas and alpacas. After that we descend to Lares for breakfast and visit the natural hot springs, with temperatures between 28°c and 38°c. Here we have lunch before we start our trek with a moderate climb for 3 hours through unspoiled Andean valley to our fist campsite at Huacawasi (3,750m/12,377ft)
After a good breakfast we will leave the campsite by 7:00 a.m. A brief ascent takes us to the pass at Huahuaqasa (at 4500 meters the highest point of the trek). From here we descend to the lakes known as Aruraycocha and Yuraccoha, which are formed by the melt waters of the snow-capped peaks of Pumahuanca and Kiswarani. We will have lunch close to these lakes. This is a spectacular days trekking through the Urubamba mountain range, and there will be ample opportunities to spot a number of Andean bird species, including condors. After lunch the trail descends through the Yanahuara ravine, with its farming communities, for almost 3 hours, covering a distance of around 7 kilometers. This valley is situated at an altitude of 2950 meters and has a pleasantly warm climate. The tiny village of Yanahuara is located in the Urubamba Valley. For the Incas, the fertile Sacred Valley was the breadbasket of Cusco, and the sowed the terraced slopes with corn and irrigated their crops with water from the glaciers of the great snow peaks which dominate the valley and feed the river, which they worshipped and called Wilcamayu, finally we will take a bus for 20-minute to the Inca village of Ollantaytambo, where we will catch the train to Aguas Calientes town
After breakfast, we leave our hostel to take the bus for the journey up to Machu Picchu ruins, where we have a three hour guided tour and plenty of time for further exploring, taking photos and the option to climb Huayna Picchu, Machu picchu mountains or up to the Sun Gate. After plenty of time to enjoy the “lost city of the Incas” we head back to Aguas Calientes. Then we take the return train to Ollantaytambo with bus connection to Cusco arriving at your hotel.
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