Cusco - The Sacred Valley & Royal Inca Trail To Machupicchu

Private tour in Lima

Cusco - the sacred valley & royal inca trail to Machupicchu: 5 days/ 4 nights.   This is a nice program with a fascinating short trek for people that do not have enough time for the classical Inca Trail. Also one of the best combinations to see the Andes and be in contact with the wonderful landscapes of the Cloud Forest, its flora and fauna and visit Machupicchu. Meals Included: B= Breakfast L=Lunch BxL=Box Lunch D=Dinner   DAY 1:   LIMA - CUSCO Upon arrival reception, assistance and transfer to the selected hotel; where you should take a short rest to adjust better to the altitude (11,000 ft a.s.l.) Afternoon Combined tour; visit the Koricancha (Temple of the Sun), the Cathedral, Sacsayhuaman, Kenko, Puca-Pucara and Tambomachay.   DAY 2    SACRED VALLEY: PISAC MARKET & OLLANTAYTAMBO (overnight)Visit PISAC located right at the entrance to the Sacred Valley, where you will see the famous "Indian Market" and the handicrafts or "souvenirs" market, This is your chance to enjoy a blend of color, traditions and people, and bargain for exotic craftworks.After Lunch at Yucay or Urubamba Village, tour to the oldest continuously inhabited dwellings in South America, where people are still living in the same houses and palaces as 500 years ago; the ancient Incan town of OLLANTAYTAMBO, with its very impressive constructions built with huge boulders and its ancient heritage that will leave us astonished.Overnight at selected hotel at Yucay, Urubamba or Ollantaytambo.(B, L)* Pisac Market takes place only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.   DAY 3   SACRED VALLEY - ROYAL INCA TRAIL TO MACHUPICCHU (overnight)Transfer to the Ollantaytambo Train Station to catch the train until the Km 104 (1:20 minutes train ride), where we start to hike - with wonderful landscapes of the Cloud Forest, its flora and fauna - on the Royal Inca Trail to Machu Picchu visiting first the Inca remains of Chachabamba. Later we continue hiking up-hill until getting and visiting the famous and fascinating Inca Citadel of Winayhuayna (8860ft.). The hike continues after lunch until Inti Punku (Sun Gate), from where we will have the first fantastic view of the "Holy City of the Incas": Machupicchu; the highlight of any trip to South America.Overnight at selected hotel in Machupicchu.    DAY 4   MACHU PICCHU - CUSCOEarly visit of Machupicchu; to spot the amazing sun rise and visit its wonderful temples and palaces, and take short hikes to Huaynapicchu Peak, the temple of the Moon, and the Inca Bridge.Afternoon return to Cusco and transfer to the hotel. (B)   DAY 5   Transfer to the airport for departure flight. (B)   Optional private half day tourswalking city tour + archeological Incan Museum.   Experience the mystery of this wonderful city where the ancient original Incan walls (the finest as example of Inca Architecture) and the streets paved with cobblestones blend with colonial Spanish architecture walking. Visit the Cathedral, Temple of the Sun, the famous twelve sided stone, the San Blas suburb (the residence of the best artists since the colony), and the Archeological Inca Museum of the University of Cusco; which displays one of the best collections of pre Incan and Incan artifacts.   Daily excursion ( am or pm available ) Private tour.   Pisac ruinsa short drive until the Sacred Valley of the Incas to visit PISAC the amazing Inca city that constitutes one of the most important Archaeological Parks in the region.Visit the fine temples, palaces and the well preserved and vast farming terraces; built even as far as the edge of precipices that still keep their straight sometimes vertical aqueducts; an imposing and unforgettable sight that also offers very beautiful landscapes.   Daily excursion ( 9 am or 2 pm available ) Private tour.   CHINCHERO Chinchero lies over the foundations of an important Inca site, with a breathtaking scenery with snow capped peaks and farming fields around. There is the nice and one of the most typical and commendable native markets of the region; where it is still possible to observe andean people (Brightly dressed) bartering and exchanging andean and tropical goods, such as fruits, coca leaves, salt for some of the hundreds of varieties of potatoes, quinoa, ollucos, corn, etc, etc. There is Also an Artisan's market with some of the best and colourful weavings of Cusco area. * Market only Thursdays and Sundays. Only on Sundays and Thursdays available.   Private tour   MARAS & MORAY Visit MORAY, a very unique archaeological site in the region; enormous natural depressions where the Incas built huge circular agricultural terraces used as a prototype of a greenhouse or experimental biological station, very advanced for its age. Enjoy beautiful views of the farming fields and the Urubamba snow capped range going towards MARAS the famous "Inca Salt mines" that are constituted by more than 3000 small pools constructed in a slope, where people extract the salt still using the same traditional methods as 500 years ago.   Daily excursion Private tour   PIKILLACTA & ANDAHUAYLILLAS Visit Pikillacta, located at 17 km. (10 miles) southeast from Cusco. The only Pre-Inca ruins near that boast some of the finest agricultural terracing and amazing channels ever built in the area. It is attributed to the Wari a very advanced and powerful Pre-Inca Culture.Continue your journey towards Andahuaylillas; a typical Andean Village where you will visit an old church from the 17th century known as the "Sistine Chapel of America"; because of all the artwork; a nice and impressive monstrance, collection of beautiful paintings, and carved wood-works gilded with gold leaf. * Daily.   TIPON & HUASAO   Visit Tipon southeast from the Valley of Cusco; one of the most important Archaeological sites in the area , the terraces found here are very impressive; very fertile terraces built with very well carved stones that are still cultivated. Even more impressive are the fountains and the irrigation system that is still used for agriculture and was made taking advantage of the water spring existing near the site. It has carved stone channels, precisely calculated and sometimes with almost vertical falls that all together constitute a hydraulic engineering master work. Continue with a visit to Huasao an old Indian Village, where we will meet with our Indian spiritual guide "Pacco" (Andean priest) to celebrate some andean rituals and share one of the most intensive experiences of the Andean and Incan tradition. Private tour: Daily excursion ( 9 am or 2 pm available).

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