Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(11
days/10 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(12 days/11 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(14 days/13 nights)
Colca Canyon - Machu
Picchu
Lake Titicaca
(16 days/15 nights)
Archaeological & Ecological
Treasures
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca (or Amazon)
(18 days/17
nights)
Colca Canyon - Amazon
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(22 days/21 nights)
Machu Picchu
(10
days/9 nights)
Machu Picchu
(13 days/12 nights)
Machu Picchu - Galapagos
(15 days/14 nights)
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
(18 days/17 nights)
Manu National Park
(8 days/7 nights)
Enchanted Isles of the Galapagos
Galapagos
(11
days/10 nights)
Galapagos & the Kingdom of Quito
Galapagos - Andes
(16 days/15 nights)
Galapagos - Amazon
(16 days/15 nights)
Historic Haciendas of the Andes
Cotopaxi - Antisana
- Otavalo
(7 days/6 nights)
© 2008
Inka's Empire Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Sacred Valley of the Incas
Pumahuanca Gorge.
Photo: Viento-Sur.
Land Price (4 days/3 nights)
Royal US$ 960 Imperial US$ 960 De Luxe US$ 910
The land price includes escorted transfers, private trek (with professional guide, porters and equipment), entrance fees, indicated category of accommodations, all meals except beverages (full board while on the trek), all transportation, and travel insurance for guests through the age of 59 years. Over that age, there is a supplementary fee. All prices are per person based on two people sharing a guest room. For a detailed description of our services, see About Our Tours.
Other Treks
Two-Day Inca Trail
Four-Day Inca Trail
The bucolic Lares Valley.
Photo: Peru Verde.
The Cordillera Urubamba in southern Peru is the last great range of snowcapped mountains before the eastern slope of the Andes falls away to the Amazon basin. Tucked behind this 40-mile chain of 18,000-foot-plus peaks lies a region of high altitude valleys. Here, the Quechua people maintain an ancient way of life, herding alpacas and llamas, farming the Andean slopes and practicing a tradition inherited from their Inca ancestors: the making and wearing of superb textiles.
This short trek in the Sacred Valley of the Incas begins at the colonial village of Lares, with its delightful hot springs baths, and ends with a road journey to the famous "living Inca settlement" of Ollantaytambo. In between, we follow a hiking route that skirts the northern slope of the Cordillera, crossing one high pass. We encounter villages where the colorful ponchos of the men vie for attention with the exquisite "manta" shoulder garments of the women, and each wear a distinctive local headgear that announces their origin from this part of Peru. The villagers along the way are generally friendly and welcoming, and some will offer to sell you their excellent weavings.
-- Peter Frost, 2005
Camp in Cuncani.
Photo: Peru Verde.
Highlights
Huacahuasi
Day 1: Cuzco - Lares - Huacahuasi. Leave Cusco, driving to the provincial town of Calca, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and climbing to a high pass before dropping down to the village of Lares on the eastern slope of the Andes. Take a dip at a hot springs and enjoy a picnic lunch. Begin a leisurely half-day hike to the highland village of Huacahuasi. Camp.
Patacancha
Day 2: Huacahuasi - Patacancha. Climb steadily, traversing an open, treeless landscape with roaming herds of alpacas and llamas. Reaching an altitude of 4,500 meters, we cross the pass of Ipsayccasa, then descend into the Patacancha watershed, with the lake of Ipsaycocha to our right. We may see Andean Geese, Puna Ibis and other waterbirds as we journey through the heartland of these Quechua people. We reach the village of Patacancha and camp nearby. Camp.
Ollantaytambo
Day 3: Patacancha - Pumamarca - Ollantaytambo. Our transport takes us to Pallata, where we begin a half-day hike to Ollantaytambo, via the scenic early-Inca site of Pumamarca (Puma town). At the village of Munaypata, we rejoin the main road for our transport to Ollantaytambo. After lunch, visit the impressive ruins here and tour the nearby Inca village. Transfer to your hotel. Dinner and overnight in the Sol y Luna Lodge.
Yucay Church, Sacred Valley of the Incas.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 1: Cuzco - Sacred Valley - Lares - Huacahuasi
We leave Cusco in the early morning, driving to the provincial town of Calca in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and climbing northward to a spectacular high pass before dropping down to the village of Lares on the east slope of the Andes. Here we take a delicious dip at a hot springs in the meadows outside of town and then enjoy a picnic lunch. Then we begin a leisurely half-day hike up the valley of the rushing Rio Trapiche, before reaching the highland village of Huacahuasi, where we camp for the night. Camp.
On the route to Huilloc.
Photo: Peru Verde.
Day 2: Huacahuasi - Patacancha
We climb steadily, traversing an open, treeless landscape of ground-hugging plants and flowers among pastures of Andean bunch-grass scattered with roaming herds of alpacas and llamas. Reaching an altitude of 4,500m. we cross the pass of Ipsayccasa then descend into the Patacancha watershed, with the lake of Ipsaycocha to our right. We may see Andean Geese, Puna Ibis and other waterbirds in the wetlands here as we journey through the heartland of these Quechua people, who are locally nicknamed "Huayruros" the name of a red and black seed reminiscent of the color combinations of the local textiles. We reach the village of Patacancha and camp nearby. Camp.
Agricultural terraces, Fortress of Ollantaytambo, Sacred Valley.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Day 3: Patacancha - Pumamarca - Ollantaytambo
Our transport takes us downvalley to Pallata, where we begin a short, half-day hike to Ollantaytambo, via the scenic early-Inca site of Pumamarca (Puma town). This well-preserved Inca outpost was apparently a fort protecting the approaches to the Sacred Valley. From there we hike down a trail that winds gently across steep mountain slopes, through a stupendous series of agricultural terraces built by the Incas and now partially restored to agricultural use. At the village of Munaypata we rejoin the main road, where our transport makes the final short drive to Ollantaytambo. After lunch we visit the impressive ruins here, and tour the nearby village, where people go about their daily lives among original Inca streets and houses. Dinner and overnight in the Sol y Luna Lodge.
Day 4: Ollantaytambo - Your Next Destination
After breakfast, continue to your next destination.
Thank you for choosing Inka's Empire Tours.
© 2008 Inka's Empire Corporation, Luxury Peru Tours & Travel. All rights reserved.
