Living The Experience
Lares trekking to Machu Picchu
Lares trekking to Machu Picchu (4 days / 3 nights)
To go to Machu Picchu, besides the famous Inca Trail, there is also the Lares trekking. During the four days of walking we can enjoy the marvelous Peruvian nature: its mountains, lakes, vegetation and animals. We can get in touch with small communities and blend with natives to watch their life-style, completely supported by nature, on which they totally depend. The culmination of the trekking in Machu Picchu makes of this, an unforgettable experience!
It consists of 5 to 7 hours of walking every day, always above 2900 meters, going up to 4600 meters! Mules and horses take the heavy camping and personal equipment and the guide is always ready to help us and enrich our lives with stories and explanations about the greatness of Peru!
On the first day, after a very early wake up, the transfer takes us on a tour bus to the village of Calca, where we’ll be served an energetic breakfast. The way to Calca goes through the Pisac community and archeological site (visited during the Sacred Valley tour). After breakfast and some time to buy any last-minute thing such as walking-sticks, water, snacks or so, we board the bus again and at around 8:15 am, we head off to the Lares Valley (the trekking start-point)! This time in the morning we can see children on their way to school! While we have breakfast, porters mount our camping gear in the mules and horses. After 3 hours by bus we arrive in Lares where there are amazing thermal-medicinal-baths! In case you are a bit enthusiastic, don’t forget to bring your swimsuit to spend some time enjoying this relaxing moment, right before we start the 4-days-walking journey! An important thing to remember is to bring extra blankets because nights in the valley are “butt-freezing” lol From the start-point in Lares to our first stop for lunch in the Vilcabamba village, we’ll have walked around 3 hours through the Trapiche River Valley. This part of the trek is a very inviting walk-in-the-park: extraordinary native vegetation (the orchids are wonderful, and fill the prairie with color!), the mountains-valley crossing, the lovely people and their stories … Can’t wait to see the Sirwani snow-covered mountain (5.400 meters) and the lakes! From the lunch-stop point to our campsite in CanchaCancha, we take ???????? (no he encontrado esa informacion) hours walking and once there, tents are ready and half an hour more, dinner will be served. It’s time to relax and get ready for the cold night ahead! A bonfire is welcome and the guide and porters we’ll be delighted to tell us their stories!
http://www.andex-adventure.com/en/cusco/inca-trail-machu-picchu-trek.html
The second day starts early with a hot and nutritious breakfast (coca-leaf tea is very advisable) after a really cold night! Today we climb up to 4.600 meters, to the mountain pass, in a dizzy 3-hours adventure! We still have around 4 more hours to enjoy typical Andean scenery, during which we’ll stop for lunch near the Ipsaycocha Lake. After lunch we continue walking round this magnificent lake! The view of the Vilcabamaba mountain range and waterfalls surrounding the lake are awesome! A little further, we’ll camp in Huacahuasi, near a weaving community, where we’ll have “lessons” on how to make those colourful “ponchos” and textiles (some of them, dyed with boiled urine lol). Don’t try to understand what they’re saying and pay attention to the guide, because in these villages, people speak Quechua language! Their houses are made of stone and have thatched roofs! Really worth some pictures! After dinner, around 7 pm, it’s time to go to “bed”!
It’s very important during the trek, to use sunglasses, sun lotion and a hat/cap because although the wind gives the impression of low temperatures, the sun is strongly shining! Also, drinking water is a must to avoid altitude sickness and dehydration! And, as we climb so high this day, and it gets cold up there (the rocks are like ice cubes!), we need gloves! Before departing on day one, make sure your guide is taking the first-aid supplies, just in case!
The third day is our last real-hiking day! I mean, it’s going to be around 3 hours of trek going down to 2.800 meters, in Patacancha – a Quechua/native village. Another hour more we’ll reach Willoq – another weaving, Quechua community, where we’ll have lunch and board a bus that will take us to Ollantaytambo. The trek today is easier than the former 2 days, as we only have to climb down the Valley. In Willoq our bus will be waiting to take us to the train station in Ollantaytambo (archeological site in the Sacred Valley of the Incas). Our train will arrive in Agues Calientes at 9:30 pm (it takes 1 hour, 45 minutes) and we’ll be transferred to our hotel to have dinner and rest. Tomorrow, when we come back from Machu Picchu, we can take some time in the thermal baths that give the city its name - Aguas Calientes, that mean Hot Waters!
This fourth and last day, we need to wake up around 4 am, to catch the bus to the ruins of Machu Picchu. Arriving there very early will allow us to watch the sunrise in the ruins and get in the line to climb the Huayna Picchu mountain (the higher one that watches over the citadel). Only 400-people-a-day are allowed to climb it. It’s a steep, irregular climb not indicated for faint-hearted! It’s worth the effort though! Afterwards, we’ll have time to explore the ruins and learn a lot more about the “Lost city of the Incas”. There are a series of mysteries about Machu Picchu but, the one that still remains is why people abandoned it, if it was a so special place?...
Around 1:30 pm, we’ll take the bus back to Aguas Calientes and, after some time to enjoy the city (there are souvenir stores, restaurants, hotels, the thermal baths), we’ll head to the train station.
We’ll also have lunch in Aguas Calientes at the restaurant of our preference (the guide can help with options for all budgets!) There’s a restaurant in the ruins, a very expensive one – the Sanctuary Lodge (USD30 for the lunch itself!)!
Around 4 pm, we’ll take the train back to Cusco and, upon arrival, the transfer will take us back to our hotel for a well-deserved bath and bed rest!!!
If there’s another trek option worth being called “The second Inca Trail to Machu Picchu” it’s the Mollepata/Salkantay one! National Geographic classifies this route among the 25 best trekkings in the world http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/photography/south-america/peru/brent-stirton2.html)! It starts in Mollepata town and goes through the Salkantay snow-covered mountain at 4.600 meters! It’s a 5 days and 4 nights trail, crossing rivers and valleys, watching the sun rise behind the mountains, observing the rich flora and fauna and learning a lot about Incan and Peruvian cultures! All this to get to the “Lost city of the Incas”: Machupicchu!
Like all the other trails to Machu Picchu, this one starts in Cusco, with the transfer from the hotel on a tour bus through the Apurimac Valley, to the town of Mollepata (northwest of Cusco), where we stop for a nutritious breakfast, while our porters mount our camping gear and personal belongings on mules and horses that will come with us! For that we have to wake up at 4 am because the transfer leaves at 4:30 am! The bus takes around 4 hours arrive in Mollepata and the breakfast is served at a picturesque local “coffee-shop”. It’s the last opportunity to buy any supplies before the hike begins! Time to start sipping coca-leaf tea to avoid altitude sickness! The first day is a climb up through the mountain valleys full of exuberant vegetation and great opportunities to see humming-birds and other fauna examples! At around 1 pm we stop for a very-well prepared lunch. From here to Soraypampa, it’s another 2 hours-hike, to reach campsite at 3850 meters! The porters and their assistants – their horses and mules lol – do a great job setting camp before we arrive! At 7 pm we are ready to rest in our tents and freeze our butts! The first day is the coldest of the 5! Remember to bring warm clothes, gloves, cap and a good sleeping bag!
The second day starts early around 6 am with the wake-up call of the porters and guide, delivering our hot coca-leaf tea! After an energetic breakfast, we start walking uphill! It’s time to observe the snow-covered Huamantay mountain and a bit further, the beautiful Yanacocha “Black” lagoon. Here we can rest a little and take awesome pictures! The dark color of the water comes from the “humus” in it and its position is like a volcano-crater. The lush of green in this area is amazing! Another 1 hour more and we reach the highest point of the entire trek. It’s the “Abra Salkantay” at 4.600 meters: a mountain pass between the Salkantay and the Tukarhuay mountains. Time to enjoy the glaciers of the Andean mountain range. The photos taken here show a great number of mountain peaks! Here we start a short descent to our lunch stop! After lunch we continue going downhill to arrive at Wayrapata at around 6 pm, in time to watch sunset over the mountain range! This is our second campsite, a little warmer then yesterday but still a bit cold! Dinner is served around 6:30 pm and we have time to blend with the others in the group by a bonfire!
At 6:30 am on the third day we had already had breakfast and headed off to La Playa (The Beach). The path today is through native communities and their coffee and fruit cultivates, watching waterfalls in the mountains and enjoying the company! We’ll walk around 5 hours until we reach La Playa, our third campsite where we’ll have lunch and enjoy the time to refresh in the river waters! La Playa is the biggest village in the region and offers small stores, snack places etc. We’ll have plenty of time here to rest, enjoy and blend with locals and other tourists, until camping time!
After the earliest breakfast (just some hot tea and snacks, the real breakfast comes afterwards) of the entire program at 5:30 am, we walk for 10 minutes and board a truck to Santa Teresa (1 hour), where the real breakfast is served: a nutritious one! We do more walking – 3 hours, that’ll take us to La Oroya – a place where we cross the Urubamba river. It’s Tarzan style lol It’s done via “flying fox”: 2/3 people in a “cage”, sliding through an iron cord! Try not to pay attention to some crosses by the river indicating somebody died there… This cross is very safe because the men who run it, are professionals! On the other side we start a 3-hour hike that will lead us to the “Hydroelectric” village. Here we can watch the artificial waterfalls of the complex and some Incan ruins. On the way we cross a suspended bridge over the Vilcanota river. At 2 pm we have lunch and rest a little, to re-start the final leg of our walking: 4 hours by the railroad heading to Aguas Calientes. At 6:30 pm we are checking in the hotel where we’ll have dinner and spend the night. There’s also time to explore the village: the thermal baths to the north, souvenir stores, restaurants etc.
The trek in this fifth and last day is the shortest. After breakfast at 5:30 am, we spend 1 hour and a half going up to the ruins. At the entrance our guide shows our entrance tickets to the clerk and we enter the magnificent complex of the Lost city of the Incas! The view of Machu Picchu so early and before crowd arrives, is unforgettable! The Huayna Picchu seems to look us in the eye asking what we are doing there lol In case you want to climb this highest mountain of the complex, take the line and wait to climb up steep and irregular steps for 1 hour and 30 minutes. It’s not for fainted-hearts but worth every drop of sweat or fear! (only 400 people a day, can climb it). After this amazing tour, we’ll have time to explore the ruins for about 3 hours before taking the bus back to Aguas Calientes. Besides the 3 sectors of the citadel (the urban, the religious and the living) the must-sees are the Inti Puku (gate of the sun), the Inca bridge and the guard house at the entrance for who comes from the original Inca Trail! At 1 pm we arrive in Aguas to have lunch at a chosen restaurant and at 4:30 pm we take the train back to Cusco. In Cusco the guide will transfer us to our hotel, where we’ll arrive at around 9:30 pm.
My last tips are:
> don’t forget your personal first-aid kit and be sure the guide has one for the whole group!
> make sure of the inclusions of the price you’re paying and pay close attention to the details on them!
> don’t litter the track!
> be nice to the natives and try to blend with them respectfully!
> take the best photos of your life!
IF YOU WANT TO RETURN TO THE OUR WEB SITE
more
> take care and be responsible
More details here
To go to Machu Picchu, besides the famous Inca Trail, there is also the Lares trekking. During the four days of walking we can enjoy the marvelous Peruvian nature: its mountains, lakes, vegetation and animals. We can get in touch with small communities and blend with natives to watch their life-style, completely supported by nature, on which they totally depend. The culmination of the trekking in Machu Picchu makes of this, an unforgettable experience!
It consists of 5 to 7 hours of walking every day, always above 2900 meters, going up to 4600 meters! Mules and horses take the heavy camping and personal equipment and the guide is always ready to help us and enrich our lives with stories and explanations about the greatness of Peru!
On the first day, after a very early wake up, the transfer takes us on a tour bus to the village of Calca, where we’ll be served an energetic breakfast. The way to Calca goes through the Pisac community and archeological site (visited during the Sacred Valley tour). After breakfast and some time to buy any last-minute thing such as walking-sticks, water, snacks or so, we board the bus again and at around 8:15 am, we head off to the Lares Valley (the trekking start-point)! This time in the morning we can see children on their way to school! While we have breakfast, porters mount our camping gear in the mules and horses. After 3 hours by bus we arrive in Lares where there are amazing thermal-medicinal-baths! In case you are a bit enthusiastic, don’t forget to bring your swimsuit to spend some time enjoying this relaxing moment, right before we start the 4-days-walking journey! An important thing to remember is to bring extra blankets because nights in the valley are “butt-freezing” lol From the start-point in Lares to our first stop for lunch in the Vilcabamba village, we’ll have walked around 3 hours through the Trapiche River Valley. This part of the trek is a very inviting walk-in-the-park: extraordinary native vegetation (the orchids are wonderful, and fill the prairie with color!), the mountains-valley crossing, the lovely people and their stories … Can’t wait to see the Sirwani snow-covered mountain (5.400 meters) and the lakes! From the lunch-stop point to our campsite in CanchaCancha, we take ???????? (no he encontrado esa informacion) hours walking and once there, tents are ready and half an hour more, dinner will be served. It’s time to relax and get ready for the cold night ahead! A bonfire is welcome and the guide and porters we’ll be delighted to tell us their stories!
http://www.andex-adventure.com/en/cusco/inca-trail-machu-picchu-trek.html
The second day starts early with a hot and nutritious breakfast (coca-leaf tea is very advisable) after a really cold night! Today we climb up to 4.600 meters, to the mountain pass, in a dizzy 3-hours adventure! We still have around 4 more hours to enjoy typical Andean scenery, during which we’ll stop for lunch near the Ipsaycocha Lake. After lunch we continue walking round this magnificent lake! The view of the Vilcabamaba mountain range and waterfalls surrounding the lake are awesome! A little further, we’ll camp in Huacahuasi, near a weaving community, where we’ll have “lessons” on how to make those colourful “ponchos” and textiles (some of them, dyed with boiled urine lol). Don’t try to understand what they’re saying and pay attention to the guide, because in these villages, people speak Quechua language! Their houses are made of stone and have thatched roofs! Really worth some pictures! After dinner, around 7 pm, it’s time to go to “bed”!
It’s very important during the trek, to use sunglasses, sun lotion and a hat/cap because although the wind gives the impression of low temperatures, the sun is strongly shining! Also, drinking water is a must to avoid altitude sickness and dehydration! And, as we climb so high this day, and it gets cold up there (the rocks are like ice cubes!), we need gloves! Before departing on day one, make sure your guide is taking the first-aid supplies, just in case!
The third day is our last real-hiking day! I mean, it’s going to be around 3 hours of trek going down to 2.800 meters, in Patacancha – a Quechua/native village. Another hour more we’ll reach Willoq – another weaving, Quechua community, where we’ll have lunch and board a bus that will take us to Ollantaytambo. The trek today is easier than the former 2 days, as we only have to climb down the Valley. In Willoq our bus will be waiting to take us to the train station in Ollantaytambo (archeological site in the Sacred Valley of the Incas). Our train will arrive in Agues Calientes at 9:30 pm (it takes 1 hour, 45 minutes) and we’ll be transferred to our hotel to have dinner and rest. Tomorrow, when we come back from Machu Picchu, we can take some time in the thermal baths that give the city its name - Aguas Calientes, that mean Hot Waters!
This fourth and last day, we need to wake up around 4 am, to catch the bus to the ruins of Machu Picchu. Arriving there very early will allow us to watch the sunrise in the ruins and get in the line to climb the Huayna Picchu mountain (the higher one that watches over the citadel). Only 400-people-a-day are allowed to climb it. It’s a steep, irregular climb not indicated for faint-hearted! It’s worth the effort though! Afterwards, we’ll have time to explore the ruins and learn a lot more about the “Lost city of the Incas”. There are a series of mysteries about Machu Picchu but, the one that still remains is why people abandoned it, if it was a so special place?...
Around 1:30 pm, we’ll take the bus back to Aguas Calientes and, after some time to enjoy the city (there are souvenir stores, restaurants, hotels, the thermal baths), we’ll head to the train station.
We’ll also have lunch in Aguas Calientes at the restaurant of our preference (the guide can help with options for all budgets!) There’s a restaurant in the ruins, a very expensive one – the Sanctuary Lodge (USD30 for the lunch itself!)!
Around 4 pm, we’ll take the train back to Cusco and, upon arrival, the transfer will take us back to our hotel for a well-deserved bath and bed rest!!!
If there’s another trek option worth being called “The second Inca Trail to Machu Picchu” it’s the Mollepata/Salkantay one! National Geographic classifies this route among the 25 best trekkings in the world http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/photography/south-america/peru/brent-stirton2.html)! It starts in Mollepata town and goes through the Salkantay snow-covered mountain at 4.600 meters! It’s a 5 days and 4 nights trail, crossing rivers and valleys, watching the sun rise behind the mountains, observing the rich flora and fauna and learning a lot about Incan and Peruvian cultures! All this to get to the “Lost city of the Incas”: Machupicchu!
Like all the other trails to Machu Picchu, this one starts in Cusco, with the transfer from the hotel on a tour bus through the Apurimac Valley, to the town of Mollepata (northwest of Cusco), where we stop for a nutritious breakfast, while our porters mount our camping gear and personal belongings on mules and horses that will come with us! For that we have to wake up at 4 am because the transfer leaves at 4:30 am! The bus takes around 4 hours arrive in Mollepata and the breakfast is served at a picturesque local “coffee-shop”. It’s the last opportunity to buy any supplies before the hike begins! Time to start sipping coca-leaf tea to avoid altitude sickness! The first day is a climb up through the mountain valleys full of exuberant vegetation and great opportunities to see humming-birds and other fauna examples! At around 1 pm we stop for a very-well prepared lunch. From here to Soraypampa, it’s another 2 hours-hike, to reach campsite at 3850 meters! The porters and their assistants – their horses and mules lol – do a great job setting camp before we arrive! At 7 pm we are ready to rest in our tents and freeze our butts! The first day is the coldest of the 5! Remember to bring warm clothes, gloves, cap and a good sleeping bag!
The second day starts early around 6 am with the wake-up call of the porters and guide, delivering our hot coca-leaf tea! After an energetic breakfast, we start walking uphill! It’s time to observe the snow-covered Huamantay mountain and a bit further, the beautiful Yanacocha “Black” lagoon. Here we can rest a little and take awesome pictures! The dark color of the water comes from the “humus” in it and its position is like a volcano-crater. The lush of green in this area is amazing! Another 1 hour more and we reach the highest point of the entire trek. It’s the “Abra Salkantay” at 4.600 meters: a mountain pass between the Salkantay and the Tukarhuay mountains. Time to enjoy the glaciers of the Andean mountain range. The photos taken here show a great number of mountain peaks! Here we start a short descent to our lunch stop! After lunch we continue going downhill to arrive at Wayrapata at around 6 pm, in time to watch sunset over the mountain range! This is our second campsite, a little warmer then yesterday but still a bit cold! Dinner is served around 6:30 pm and we have time to blend with the others in the group by a bonfire!
At 6:30 am on the third day we had already had breakfast and headed off to La Playa (The Beach). The path today is through native communities and their coffee and fruit cultivates, watching waterfalls in the mountains and enjoying the company! We’ll walk around 5 hours until we reach La Playa, our third campsite where we’ll have lunch and enjoy the time to refresh in the river waters! La Playa is the biggest village in the region and offers small stores, snack places etc. We’ll have plenty of time here to rest, enjoy and blend with locals and other tourists, until camping time!
After the earliest breakfast (just some hot tea and snacks, the real breakfast comes afterwards) of the entire program at 5:30 am, we walk for 10 minutes and board a truck to Santa Teresa (1 hour), where the real breakfast is served: a nutritious one! We do more walking – 3 hours, that’ll take us to La Oroya – a place where we cross the Urubamba river. It’s Tarzan style lol It’s done via “flying fox”: 2/3 people in a “cage”, sliding through an iron cord! Try not to pay attention to some crosses by the river indicating somebody died there… This cross is very safe because the men who run it, are professionals! On the other side we start a 3-hour hike that will lead us to the “Hydroelectric” village. Here we can watch the artificial waterfalls of the complex and some Incan ruins. On the way we cross a suspended bridge over the Vilcanota river. At 2 pm we have lunch and rest a little, to re-start the final leg of our walking: 4 hours by the railroad heading to Aguas Calientes. At 6:30 pm we are checking in the hotel where we’ll have dinner and spend the night. There’s also time to explore the village: the thermal baths to the north, souvenir stores, restaurants etc.
The trek in this fifth and last day is the shortest. After breakfast at 5:30 am, we spend 1 hour and a half going up to the ruins. At the entrance our guide shows our entrance tickets to the clerk and we enter the magnificent complex of the Lost city of the Incas! The view of Machu Picchu so early and before crowd arrives, is unforgettable! The Huayna Picchu seems to look us in the eye asking what we are doing there lol In case you want to climb this highest mountain of the complex, take the line and wait to climb up steep and irregular steps for 1 hour and 30 minutes. It’s not for fainted-hearts but worth every drop of sweat or fear! (only 400 people a day, can climb it). After this amazing tour, we’ll have time to explore the ruins for about 3 hours before taking the bus back to Aguas Calientes. Besides the 3 sectors of the citadel (the urban, the religious and the living) the must-sees are the Inti Puku (gate of the sun), the Inca bridge and the guard house at the entrance for who comes from the original Inca Trail! At 1 pm we arrive in Aguas to have lunch at a chosen restaurant and at 4:30 pm we take the train back to Cusco. In Cusco the guide will transfer us to our hotel, where we’ll arrive at around 9:30 pm.
My last tips are:
> don’t forget your personal first-aid kit and be sure the guide has one for the whole group!
> make sure of the inclusions of the price you’re paying and pay close attention to the details on them!
> don’t litter the track!
> be nice to the natives and try to blend with them respectfully!
> take the best photos of your life!
IF YOU WANT TO RETURN TO THE OUR WEB SITE
more
> take care and be responsible
More details here
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Started by anna oliveira Nov 12, 2009.
Concerning about the altitud on the Inca trail what to do !!
Started by Carla Barrientos Apr 13, 2009.
Be aware with Inca trail spaces!!
Started by Carla Barrientos Apr 13, 2009.
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