DAY 1 : Cusco – Mollepata – Soraypampa – Challway.
We’ll leave the city of Cusco at 03:30 a.m. (Pick up time from your hotel); we’ll travel by car for about 3 hours to the town of Mollepata where we’ll stop to use toilets, some breakfast and probably purchase some items for the trek, then we’ll continue one hour drive to Soraypampa (3,800m / 12467ft) where we’ll start the Trekking to Machupicchu.
As soon as we are at Soraypampa, our chef and the horseman will pack all the camping equipment and cooking stuff and we’ll start the hike. The first 4 hours will be uphill to get to the Highest Point which is at 4,600 m / 15091ft (the highest of the trek) then the trail, we’ll continue down to Huayracmachay where we will have lunch with panoramic views of beautiful snow-capped mountains (Humantay; 4,120 masl/13,500 ft) and down the beginning of the cloud forest.
After lunch you’ll have time to rest and refill your water bottle; then the trail continues down for about 2 hours to the camp of Qollpa; which is a small community where we’ll see farms.
Hiking distance: 13 km / 8.1 miles
Estimated walking time: 6½ to 7 hour approximately.
Climate: hot in the day and warm in the night.
Acomodation: Camping.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Plus snacks and afternoon tea time)
Maximum Altitude: 4200 Masl / 13779 ft.
Minimum Altitude: 2954 masl / 9694 ft.
DAY 2 : Chaullay – La Playa – Santa Teresa – Hydroelectric – Aguas Calientes
At 06:00 AM, we will start our trek to the small town of La Playa through the Santa Teresa valley. You will be able to soak up this new, lush landscape during our 6 hours of hiking today! During the hike we will see rivers, waterfalls, wild orchids, and plantations of coffee, banana, and avocado. You can taste the famous passion fruit and granadilla fruit along the way! We will see a village called Colpapampa, also called the “brow of the cloud forest,” where waterfalls, birds, hot springs, fruit-bearing trees, and flora and fauna can be observed. If we are lucky, we will even be able to see the beautiful bird called “The Cock of the Rocks,” the national bird of Peru!
After a hearty lunch at La Playa, we will take local transportation to the Hidroelectrica train station.
Here you will have two options:
1) If you are exhausted, you may take the train to Aguas Calientes ($31.00 extra).
2) If you are still eager to hike, you may walk from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes for about 3 hours along the train track. There is a nice path next to the tracks through the warm paradise of the cloud forest. This is the same trail used by the American professor Hiram Bingham who rediscovered Machu Picchu after centuries of it being lost to the outside world!
Once in Aguas Calientes, you can rest a bit before dinner or walk around this alluring place that has the feel of a California Gold Rush town. There are no cars in Aguas Calientes, so it is an especially peaceful place to be. At 7:00 PM, we will have dinner at a local restaurant. All the expenses in Aguas Calientes are covered by the company, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the overnight stay at our hostel. In your luxury room, you will have a private bathroom, hot shower, wifi, breakfast in the morning, and luggage storage while you visit Machu Picchu.
Hiking distance: 18 km / 11.2 miles
Hiking time: 7 hour approximately.
Climate: hot in the day and warm in the night.
Acomodation: Camping.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Plus snacks and afternoon tea time)
Maximum Altitude: 2650 masl / 8700 ft.
Minimum Altitude: 2400 masl ASL / 7874 ft.
DAY 3: Aguas Calientes – Hiking to Machu Picchu – Cusco.
Today we arrive at the long-awaited finale of our trek, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – Machu Picchu! We will wake up early after a refreshing night at our hostel to beat the crowds to the top of Machu Picchu and enjoy its serenity in the soft morning light. The Machu Picchu entrance check point is open from 06:00 AM until 17:00 PM. We will hike up to Machupicchu (a bus ride is optional for $12.00) and enter the hidden Royal Citadel of the Incas. Here we will have a 2-hour guided tour through this incredible ancient city to visit temples, terraces, palaces, priest’s houses, the sundial, the industrial sector, and the farming fields. Be amazed at the engineering ingenuity of the Incas which was so far ahead of their time and still partially a mystery today! Without having modern tools or even steel and iron to work with, the people who built this city were genius in organizing this community in a sustainable and beautiful way on the side of a mountain, even bringing water in canals through its streets for the people to use. When a Peruvian guide showed this site to Hiram Bingham, it was almost unrecognizable, covered in thick vegetation and in a state of disrepair. It has since been cleaned and restored and is now protected and treasured by the world at large!
After this tour, you are free to climb up to Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain (Be sure to book in advance to get tickets for these!). Each mountain takes approximately 3 hours to hike up and down. Another lower-impact option for which you do not need an extra ticket is to trek to the Sun Gate, the main entrance from the Inca Trail (this takes about 2 or 2.5 hours round-trip). Another option is walking to see the Incan Bridge. You will be able to stay and enjoy this magical city for more than 7 hours before hiking back down to Aguas Calientes for the train ride at 18:20 hrs (subject to availability) to Ollantaytambo. A private bus will pick up our group and drop you off at your hotel in Cusco at about 21:30 hrs. Rest your feet and your body now, but we can assure you your heart will still be soaring for weeks and years to come!
Distance Travelled: 6 Km. / 3.7 mile
Hiking time: 3 to 4 hours approximately.
Machu Picchu guided tour: 2½ hour.
Climate: tropical warm.
Shuttle to Cusco:3 hours by train and bus from Aguas Calientes to Cusco.
Meals: Breakfast.
Maximum Altitude: 2429 masl / 7972 ft.
Minimum Altitude: 2040 masl / 6692 ft.
