08 Day Cusco & Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu

According to your flight schedule, we’ll pick you up from Cusco airport and transfer you to your hotel. So, the morning will be reserved for resting or free time. Then, in the afternoon, we will visit the Inka Museum, home of thousands of years of Andean culture. Here we will become more familiar with the origins and beginnings of Andean civilizations.

Continuing with the tour, we will move onto the temple of Qoricancha. Above all, it’s famous Sun Temple of the ancient Inca capital, that was and remained the pinnacle of organization, architecture, and religion of Inka civilization. During its construction, they had already achieved the most significant advances of their time, and this temple may have been the exact representation of the center, or “Navel of the World”. Therefore, the center of the world, as dictated by the pre-hispanic Andean cosmovision.

Chinchero: the rainbow village, home of the ruins of the royal palace of the Inka Túpac Inca Yupanqui, a picturesque community located on a high plateau overlooking the many snowcapped peaks of the Cusco region. Here we can admire the well-preserved Inka walls of the main square as well as the many altars. We will also visit the beautiful colonial church, unique for its interior artwork and imagery. Moving on we will participate in a wonderful introduction and learning experience of the art of Andean textiles; will become acquainted with the wisdom of Andean weavings as maintained since long before Inka times.
In the afternoon we will visit Moray, an ancient construction designed for agricultural investigations and studies of different crops in a range of altitudes. Here the many concentric "rings" of terraces produce a fine gradient of micro-climates; the warmth of the lowest central ring slowly dissapates as the rings ascend outward and upward, creating reductions in temperatures until reaching the ground-level norm.

We will leave from Cusco approximately between 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. A bus will take us to the town of Mollepata (2900 meters above sea level). Then, we will arrive around 8:00 am, we will stop for last-minute supplies, leg-stretching, or to use the restrooms. We will continue to our trek starting point, Sayapata.

We will meet with our support staff, and they will load the equipment on horses and mules. So, around 9:00 am we will begin our walk toward Soraypampa (3850 meters above sea level). During the trip, we will have panoramic views of the majestic Salkantay, other mountains covered with snow, and the Valley of Apurimac River. Then, around 1:00 pm, we will have a Peruvian lunch. After that, we will continue hiking toward Humantay Lake for 3 hours approximately. Absolutely, this is a beautiful lake in the heart of the mountains. Finally, we will come back to our camp where the tents will be ready for you as well as your dinner.

Today, nature will change drastically from dry sceneries to snowy peaks and tropical areas. After a nutritious breakfast, we will start the most challenging part of the trek. Subsequently, we will start the hike around 7:00 in the morning. We will hike to a place called SalkantayPampa. Then, go toward the left side of the snowy peaks of Humantay located next to the Apu Salkantay. At midday, we will be on the highest point ( 4600 meters above sea level).

We will appreciate spectacular views of the mountains and the imposing snowy peaks of the Salkantay (6264 meters above sea level), which is known as the second-highest point of the Cusco region. Then, we will have our lunch in the area called Huayracmachay. After a trek of approximately 3 hours, we will arrive at our camp in Challway (2920 meters above sea level). Finally, around 7:00 p.m, we will recuperate from the trek and eat dinner.

We will start our trek at 7:00 am, and we will enjoy the beautiful sunrise. Consequently, we walk for about 5 hours toward Playa Sahuayaco. During this period, we will observe a town called Collpabamba, also called the “Forest Cloudy Brow,” where waterfalls, fruit-bearing trees, varied flora, and birds can be observed. If we are lucky, we will be able to find the famous bird called the “Cock of the Rocks‘ — the national bird of Peru Once. Likewise, at Playa Sahuayaco we’ll have lunch. After that, we are going to hike a couple of hours more to get to Lucmabamba, which is our last campsite, and also the beginning of the Inca trail of Llactapata.

Around 8.00 am we will gradually hike up for about 2 hours to finally get to LlactaPata, a beautiful archeological site that has connections to the Inca sites Machupicchu and Sayacmarka. So, we will have plenty of time to explore this nice Inca site. Then, start our descent to HidroElectrica (power plant) which will take us about 1 ½ hour. Certainly, a pleasant 3 hours walk will bring us to Aguas Calientes where we will stay in a hotel for the night. After having stored our baggage we will go out and have dinner together in one of the many restaurants.

This last day starts very early. We will wake you up at around 5.00 am to have our breakfast. Then, we’ll take one of the first buses to Machu Picchu. There are two good reasons to be at the entrance of Machu Picchu very early:

1. It is well worth the effort to get up early, we’ll find the Inca city quiet. You will have plenty of time to take photos and enjoy the sunrise in Machu Picchu.

2. Our guide will give you a tour around Machu Picchu telling you about the history of Machu Picchu and the most important temples and altars. After that, if you still have plenty of energy you should climb Huayna Picchu Mountain. This is the steep mountain dominating the background of Machu Picchu.

Usually, we take the bus at around 1:00 pm. The bus ride takes around 25 minutes and your guides will give you the ticket. Make sure that, before you leave Machu Picchu by bus, the guides give you the time and location of the restaurant where the group meets in Aguas Calientes. Finally, you will get your train and bus tickets back to Cusco in the restaurant in Aguas Calientes.

Free morning to relax, this afternoon transfer to the airport for your departure to Lima.