| Day 1: Cusco – Mollepata – Cruz Pata |
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We drive from Cusco across a high plateau, descending spectacular switchbacks into the warm valley of Limatambo, where we visit the ruins of Tarawasi, a tiered Inca ceremonial platform featuring some of the most elegant and delicate Inca stonework. Continuing up a side road we come to the attractive highland village of Mollepata. A short way beyond here we reach the meadows of Cruz Pata, where we meet our trail crew and pack animals, and make our first camp.
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| Day 2: Cruz Pata – Soraypampa |
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A day of gentle hiking takes us over a ridge through scattered forest, where we meet the Rio Blanco valley. We follow its upper slopes high above the river through diminishing shrubland until we cross the rim of Soraypampa and meet the open grasslands of the highland puna. Here, at 4,000m/13,120ft, we cross a broad plateau at the foot of the spectacular snow-capped spire of Humantay (5,910m/19,385ft). The massive ice-covered south face of Salcantay -- one of the great peaks of the Andes, at 6271m/20,570ft -- fills the skyline ahead of us as we make camp.
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| Day 3: Soraypampa - Incachiriasca – Sisaypampa |
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We begin the most challenging day of our trek, winding our way past a gigantic terminal moraine left by a receding glacier as we begin the zig-zag ascent to the mighty pass of Incachiriasca (4900m/16,070ft). Around mid-day we cross the pass, a bare, windswept landscape of rocks and ice, close to cracking glaciers and the ridge spot known to climbers as Japanese camp. From here we descend into the valley of Sisaypampa, catching glimpses of Palcay (5,422m/17,785ft), the “hidden peak” just north of Salcantay. We camp at Sisaypampa.
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| Day 4: Sisaypampa – Q’ente |
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Heading gently downvalley we follow a trail below the slopes of Salcantay, along a river channeled into a straight canal by the Incas at Pampacahua. We pass the village of Huayllabamba and continue down the lush Cusichaca valley with the snow peak of Verónica (5,682m/18,636ft) ahead of us, reaching the magnificent Inca terraces and agricultural settlement at Patallacta in the afternoon. We camp at warmer altitudes (2,500m/8,200ft) near the Urubamba river and the Inca terraces of Q’ente.
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| Day 5: Machu-Picchu and Cusco |
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We catch the earliest train to Aguas Calientes station, and take a bus to the famous ruins of Machu Picchu at mid-morning, spending most of the day at this bewitching place, with both a guided experience of the highlights and then time to explore the ruins on our own. In the afternoon we complete our journey, traveling by train to Cusco.
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Hotels in Cuzco
