Main Info
OVERVIEW AND HIGHLIGHTS:
Choquequirao, is a lost city where the Incas took refuge from 1536. Located in the Vilcabamba Valley – La Convencion in the rainforest at 3300 meters above sea level. This archaeological center is considered as important as Machupicchu.
The journey begins in the city of Cusco. After 145 km of asphalt road and 10 km of paved road we arrive to the town of Cachora, where the 32 km road starts, surrounded by imposing landscapes. On the way we can also appreciate the flora and fauna of the Apurimac Canyon, the deepest in the world, until we arrive to the “Golden Cradle” of the Incas. Choquequirao (from Quechua chuqi, gold, and k’iraw, cradle, that is: “cradle of gold”), are the archaeological remains of an Inca city located in the foothills of the Salkantay snow-capped mountain, under the jurisdiction of the district of Santa Teresa, Province of La Convención, Department of Cuzco, southern Peru.
The archaeological monuments of Choquequirao are made up of buildings and terraces distributed at different levels, from the lowest level Sunch’u Pata to the highest truncated summit, which was leveled and enclosed with stones to form a platform with an approximate area of 150 square meters. Choquequirao (sometimes also known as Choqequirau or Choqekiraw) is known as the “sacred sister” of Machu Picchu because of its structural and architectural similarity to it. Recently, being partially excavated, it has awakened the interest of the Peruvian government to further recover the complex and make it a more accessible alternative for tourists interested in learning more about the Inca culture.
INCLUDED
- Professional Bilingual English-speaking tour guide
- Pre-Departure Briefing at your hotel 1 or 2 days before your trek
- Pick up from your hotel and transportation to the beginning of the trek
- Warm meals during the trip.
- 7 breakfast, 6 lunches, 6 dinner, teas and snacks
- Camping equipment and foam mattress.
- Tents. TWO PEOPLE IN EACH TENT
- Kitchen tent, Dining tent
- Cooks and kitchen
- Boiled water after at every campsite
- Tables, chairs and kitchen equipment
- Horses and muleteers (to carry the tents, food and cooking equipment)
- Entrance ticket to Choquequirao and Machupicchu.
- First-aid kit and oxygen
- Duffel bag
- Transportation from Yanama to Playa Sahuayaco
- 01-night hotel 3* hotel in Aguas Calientes.
- Train Ticket Voyager or Expedition service from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and return to Ollantaytambo
- Bus ticket Aguas Calientes – Machupicchu Round trip
- Transport from Ollantaytambo train station to Cusco Hotel
NOT INCLUDED
- Lunch and dinner on the 7th day
- Sleeping bag = 20.00 USD per person
- Inflatable Mattress = 20.00 USD per person
- Walking sticks = 5.00 USD per person
- Entrada a Huayna Picchu: si desea escalar esta montaña se aplica una tarifa adicional de $80USD por persona.
- Guiado por Huaynapicchu = $30USD
- Tips for muleteers, chefs and trek guides
- Personal Snacks
- Personal tent, if you want it is 40 USD extra for the trip.
WHAT TO BRING AND ADVICES
- It is really recommended arrive to Cusco at least 2 days prior the trek, in order to acclimatize to the altitude. You can take personal medication which You can get at the drugstore there are many around the main street Av El Sol or near to the main square of Cusco.
- Please make sure to inform us about your health/food/physical restrictions in advance so we can prepare them for you.
- In case you need to pay the remaining balance, it is advisable to take some cash. You can get some money from the ATM machine that are located in the centre of the City of Cusco.
- Rain poncho, rain jacket, proper hiking boots.
- Proper warm clothes, at that altitude is quite cold and windy a bandana will be helpful.
- Sun Glasses.
- Sun block. The sun is really strong You will need to protect your head (with a hat) and skin.
- Extra snacks always recommended.
- A bottle of water.
- Travel insurance this from your site, strongly recommended.
Itinerary
We will pick you up early 4:00am from your hotel and drive for 4 and a half hours in our private transport to Capuliyoc (2,915 meters/9,564 feet). Along the way there are spectacular views of villages, valleys and snow-capped mountains like The Humantay and Salkantay. Once at Capuliyoc, we will have our breakfast and then meet our
trekking team like horsemen and horses our tour guide will coordinate with them and pack all our equipment onto the horses. After Breakfast, we descend for three to four hours to the campsite of Chiquisca (1,900m/6,270ft), where we will get our lunch and after this continue our hike for another
04 hours until We arrive to Playa Rosalina and then to Santa Rosa where is located our first campsite, we will get our accommodation and the We will have a nice dinner.
● MEALS: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
● ACCOMMODATION: Camping at Santa Rosa
● ACTIVITY LEVEL: Moderate to difficult
● HIKING DISTANCE: 12km / 7.46 miles
● HIKING TIME: 6-7 hours
● MINIMUM ELEVATION: 1,900 m/ 6,270 ft
● MAXIMUM ELEVATION: 2,915 m/9,564 ft
After breakfast (5:00 AM), we will continue our hike towards Marampata Campsite (2850 m.a.s.l.), this will take 3.5 to 4 hours approximately, where we will get our accommodation and lunch after this We continue to archeological site of Choquequirao this will take approximately another two hours once there The tour guide will explain and visit every site for approximately 03 hours enough time to enjoy the view for pictures and free time,
then We continue our hike to Pinchiuniyoc Campsite where We will get dinner and where
We will spend the night.
● MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
● NIGHT: Pinchiuniyoc Campsite.
● ACTIVITY LEVEL: Challenging
● WALKING DISTANCE: 14km / 8.7 miles
● WALKING TIME: 10 hours (approx.)
● MINIMUM ELEVATION: 1,550 m/ 5,117 ft
● MAXIMUM ELEVATION: 3,150 m/ 10,397 ft
We will get up early to have breakfast around 7 am, descend to Rio Blanco for 2 hours to relax for a moment, and continue the ascent to Maizal on a climb that lasts 4.5 hours. We will arrive at the Maizal campsite at 3pm, where we will have our delicious lunch and have the afternoon free.
At night, we will enjoy a dinner prepared by our chef and rest until the next day.
● MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
● NIGHT: Maizal Campsite.
● ACTIVITY LEVEL: Moderate to difficult
● WALKING DISTANCE: 9km / 5.6 miles
● WALKING TIME: 6 - 7 hours
● MINIMUM ELEVATION: 1,920 m/ 6,299 ft
● MAXIMUM ELEVATION: 3,000 m/ 9,843 ft
After an energetic breakfast in Maizal (06:00 AM) we will climb to the Victoria Mines, an incredible and impressive climb, we can see the ancient mines of mineral and metals. We will pass Pajonal and for 4 or 5 hours of walking we will arrive at San Juan Pass where we will be able to take fantastic photos, then we continue walking to Yamana for 2.5
hours where we will have a delicious lunch and get on the transportation to Collpapampa for 2.5 hours, where we will taste dinner and spend the night in the campsite.
● MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
● NIGHT: Colpapampa Campsite.
● ACTIVITY LEVEL: Moderate to difficult
● WALKING DISTANCE: 11 km / 6.84 miles
● WALKING TIME: 7-8 hours
● MINIMUM ELEVATION: 2,100 m / 6,889 ft
● MAXIMUM ELEVATION: 4,130 m/ 13,549 ft
We will get up early to have breakfast, then we will walk to Playa Sahuayaco, this day will be for relaxing, the trail is beautiful and the vegetation is very dense and we will see a variety of orchids, fantastic birds and impressive waterfalls approximately 80 meters high. When we arrive at Playa Sahuayaco, we will provide lunch and have the afternoon free to visit the Cocalmayo Hot Springs even if it is not included in the program you can organize with the group in order to get to this place, your tour guide will give You some
advice for this. After hiking a lot this looks like a really nice option. At night, we will provide dinner at our campsite. Your tour guide will give you a briefing for the next day's activity.
• MEALS: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
• NIGHT: Playa Sahuayaco Campsite
• ACTIVITY LEVEL: Moderate to difficult
• WALKING DISTANCE: 14km / 8.7 mi
• WALKING TIME: 5 hours
• MINIMUM ELEVATION: 2100m / 6,889 ft
• MAXIMUM ELEVATION: 2820m /9252 ft
Today we continue through the sub-tropical vegetation on our way to the village of Lucmabamba, where an original Inca trail still remains to this day. A gradual uphill climb through lush sub-tropical forest brings us to Llactapata (2700m), where we enjoy a stunning view of the backside of Machu Picchu amongst its neighboring peaks and descend to Hidroelectrica where we will have a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, we continue walking towards Aguas Calientes for 2 hours where we will spend the night in a proper hotel. The dinner is Included and Your Tour guide will give You the important information for the next day. The main reason for this program is
Machupicchu.
● MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
● NIGHT: Hotel in Aguas Calientes (Standard).
● ACTIVITY LEVEL: Difficult
● WALKING DISTANCE: 25 km/15.5mi
● WALKING TIME: 8/9 hours
● MINIMUM ELEVATION: 2000m/6,562 ft
● MAXIMUM ELEVATION: 2800m/ 9,186ft
● AGUAS CALIENTES ELEVATION: 2,040m /6,693 ft
We wake up early in the morning (depending on the time of our admission). Some of you will want to hike to the entrance to Machupicchu which can take one hour and a half some of You will want to take the first bus (5:30am) from Aguas Calientes to the Machupicchu Citadel, usually 30 minutes by bus. Our guide will thoroughly guide you through the Machupicchu archeological site for about 2 hours, then time to come back
to Aguas Calientes town where You can get lunch (not included in the program) and in
the afternoon we will take the train to Ollantaytambo, you need to be at the Aguas
Calientes train station 30mn in advance.
A representative of our company will meet you at the train station in Ollantaytambo town
then We will take You back to Cusco in proper tourist transportation. We will leave you at
your hotel.
• MEALS: Breakfast
• NIGHT: Not included
• ACTIVITY LEVEL: Moderate.
• WALKING DISTANCE: Bus and hike, moderate Walking.
• WALKING TIME: 04 hours
• MINIMUM ELEVATION: 2040m / 6692 ft
• MAXIMUM ELEVATION: 3600m /11811 ft
