Lares Trek + Short Inca Trail To Machu Picchu 5 Days

Today, we’ll wake up around 5:30 AM, being offered hot drinks. At this time, people from the town will already be taking their llamas and alpacas out to graze. Breakfast will be served as soon as we finish getting the luggage ready to go. We’ll fill our water bottles and receive snacks to start the day strengthened for the trail. There will be 3-4 hours of ascent toward the highest point of the entire trek: the Pachacútec Pass (4,700 m / 15,419 ft). We’ll hike upward in a zigzag to lessen the strain due to the altitude. The landscapes of this place are surprising. You’ll see the beautiful lake of Palcoyo and the impressive Qanchispaccha waterfall. If you feel bad or too tired, don’t worry, we’ll always have an emergency horse available. We’ll find ourselves above the clouds once we get to the Pachacútec Pass. From there, the 360-degree view is truly astounding. In front of you, you’ll see the majestic mountains of Pitusiray and Qolqe Cruz.Please take advantage of this point to take amazing photos because we’ll soon start going downhill! We’ll begin to a one-hour descent down the slope to a place where we’ll enjoy our lunch. Recuperate your energy, and you’ll still need to walk three more hours! Our campsite is found in the town of Cancha Cancha (3,950 m / 12,959 ft). Here, 85% of the houses are made with traditional techniques and materials: stone walls and thatched roofs. Since our support team will be in charge of setting up the tents, you’ll have time to spend with the local people. After that, your guide will take you to one of the community houses to learn about their lifestyle. You’ll be able to see guinea pigs being raised and learn about traditional, hand-made textiles made of alpaca and llama wool. In the afternoon, you’ll enjoy hot drinks and dinner.

Just like every morning, our trekking team will wake you up with a hot drink to start the day in the best way. Once you re prepared, you’ll begin to the last leg of the trek. We’ll walk 4 hours downhill along a gorgeous path where you’ll see herds of llamas and alpacas again. We’ll pass fields of potatoes, fava beans, and other products.This is a fabulous opportunity to learn more about Andean agricultural techniques. We’ll start descending to a warmer area: the Sacred Valley. You’ll feel the changes between micro-climates and see different crops than you saw in the higher altitude areas. The Sacred Valley cultivates corn, quinoa, kiwi, peaches, avocados, and other fruits. Of course, this area is full of history and Inca culture. We’ll finish the tour in a small town called Huarán (2,920 m / 9,580 ft), where you’ll say goodbye to the trekking team and the horses. Here, you’ll enjoy a delicious, nutritional lunch.

In Huarán, transportation will be waiting for us to go through the Sacred Valley to the salt mines of Maras’s town. Here, at (3,000 m / 9,842 ft), a salty spring of water flows and spills out over the mountain’s slope. You’ll be able to see 3,000 small evaporation chambers that have been used since pre-Inca times. This salt has curative properties due to its minerals and which turn it a beautiful pink color. Local families possess every one of these chambers and support themselves by supplying salt to the towns in this zone. There’s a small shop where you can buy some of the pink salt if you’re interested.

After visiting the salt mines, the van will take us 45 minutes away to Ollantaytambo (2,792 m / 9,160 ft), a beautiful town located in the heart of the Andes. Here we’ll visit the Sun’s spectacular Temple, built with huge rocks, many of which were elegantly carved to create water fountains, stairs, and terraces.

You’ll spend the night in Ollantaytambo. Remember to go to bed early as our excursion will start very early in the morning.

After breakfast, we will go to the train station; you can make your last-minute purchases. When the Sun begins to shed its lights on the mountains, you’ll board the train that’ll take you – next to the sacred river of Urubamba – to the point known as Km 104 (2,100 m / 6,889 ft) where we begin the hike. There we’ll descend and cross a bridge to the Ministry of Culture of Peru’s control point. Don’t forget to bring your original passport; otherwise, you simply won’t be able to enter the Inca Trail. After walking 15 minutes, you’ll arrive at the archaeological centers of Chachabamba and Choquesuysuy. We’ll continue with an ascent over steps, and we’ll observe waterfalls and different types of orchids. The walk will last for 4 hours until we reach Wiñaywayna (2,650 m / 8,694 ft). This sophisticated archaeological center shows not only the architectural mastery of the Incas but also their great agricultural capacity. There the Incas were able to cultivate different products and, in turn, stabilize the hillside.The name Wiñay Wayna comes from a special type of orchid that grows abundantly in the area and whose translation into Spanish is “eternally young.” You’ll visit, on a 1-hour guided tour, more than 20 buildings in this place. Later, you’ll enjoy a delicious box lunch to recharge your batteries and continue with our walk. A 2-hour walk awaits us to the old official entrance of Machu Picchu: Inti Punku or Puerta del Sol (2,720 m / 8,923 ft). From there, you’ll see the citadel of Machu Picchu for the first time in a panoramic view. Let your heart feel the respect and powerful energy that ancient Peruvians felt when contemplating this sacred site. We only have 30 minutes to descend to reach Machu Picchu (2,430 m / 7,972 ft) at sunset. At that time, the crowds of tourists have already left, and Machu Picchu, the mysterious golden reflection of the Tayta Inti or Padre Sol, is at peace again. However, we’ll tour the stone streets of Machu Picchu the next day, at sunrise.

We’ll board a bus that’ll take us 25 minutes to Aguas Calientes, a real miniature metropolis where you’ll find everything. You’ll spend the night there, in a comfortable hotel. After dinner, we recommend you rest early to make the most of the next day.

The most special day of all has arrived. In a few moments, you’ll be able to contemplate with your own eyes the fantastic archaeological site of Machu Picchu, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. There’s nothing better than walking through Machu Picchu at dawn, almost in silence, when the soft yellow light covers everything from one side, and magical shadows are revealed. Tourists will crowd this place in a few hours so enjoy the tranquility of these moments. We’ll visit the most important and significant sites of Machu Picchu on a 2-hour guided tour: temples, terraces, palaces, houses, the industrial sector, the fields of cultivation, the sacred rock of the Solar Clock or Intiwatana, among others.

After the guided tour, you’ll have free time to explore Machu Picchu at your leisure. If you managed to get the respective tickets, you could climb the mountains of Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain. Remember that the ascent and descent time for both mountains is 3 hours. You can also walk to the Inca Bridge or simply tour this citadel guided by your intuition and the place’s energy.

Once you’ve finished your visit, we’ll return to Aguas Calientes on a bus and have lunch at one local restaurant (price not included). Later you’ll board the train that’ll take you to the Ollantaytambo station where our representative will be waiting for you. Then we’ll go to our private transport to the city of Cusco. We’ll drop you off at the door of your hotel at approximately 8:00 pm.