theperuexperience: Itinerary including Salkantay Trail

Lima, Cusco, Salkantay Trek and Machu Picchu

12 Days / 11 Nights

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1- - Arrival transfer in Lima

Arrival in Lima, the "City of Kings" famous for its Spanish Colonial architecture, extraordinary museums and cuisine. Lima is internationally recognized as the "Gastronomic Capital of the Americas", and its cuisine is considered among the most diverse and exquisite in the world on par with French cuisine. Upon your arrival a host will meet you an assist you and help you in transferring to take your tour in Lima.

Day 2- - City Tour and Larco Museum (B)

Tour of Modern and Colonial Lima including the world famous Larco Museum - This half-day tour visits both the colonial and modern sections of Lima. Colonial sites include the lovely Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, San Francisco Church and the exquisite Torre Tagle Palace modern day seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In modern Lima, drive along the exclusive residential areas of Miraflores and San Isidro.

Continue to the Larco Museum, founded in 1926, it displays remarkable chronological galleries providing an excellent overview on 3000 years of development of Peruvian pre-Columbian history. Located in a unique vice-royal mansion of the 18th century built over a 7th century pre-Columbian pyramid is surrounded by beautiful gardens. The Larco Museum also features the finest gold and silver collection from Ancient Peru and the famous erotic archaeological collection, one of the most visited Peruvian tourist attractions.

Day 3,– Lima / Cusco (B)

Early morning transfer from the hotel to the airport for a short but spectacular flight over the snowcapped Andes to the oldest inhabited city in the hemisphere, Cusco, at an elevation of 11,440 feet.

Upon arrival a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and in registering.

Day 4,– Cusco / City Tour and Nearby Ruins / Cusco (D)

Tour of Cusco and Nearby Ruins – Visitors are caught up in the excitement of touring the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, a delightful combination of Inca and colonial architecture. The tour visits important landmarks such us Cusco's Cathedral, Plaza de Armas and Koricancha “The Temple of the Sun”. This tour of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the western hemisphere also includes the nearby ruins of Kenko, Puca-Pucara, Tambomachay as well as the Sacsayhuaman fortress, an imposing example of Inca military architecture.

Day 5,– Cusco / Pisac Market and Ollantaytambo Archaeological Complex / Cusco (B,L) Full Day Excursion to the Pisac Indian Market and the Ollantaytambo Fortress - Morning departure for a drive through the fertile countryside of the Urubamba Valley to the colonial village of Pisac where an Indian Market takes place Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Other days you will tour the religious nucleus and archaeological site of Pisac. During your visit to the bustling marketplace you will have the opportunity to bargain with the natives for many different types of Peruvian handicrafts and jewelry.

Continue to the Ollantaytambo archaeological complex, the Incas built it as a fort that included a temple, agricultural terraces, and an urban area. There are two distinct sectors: The religious and worship zone, and the residential area. Ollantaytambo was an important administrative center with probable military functions if one considers the walls and towers. There are also traces of ancient roads and aqueducts. The town of Ollantaytambo is called a "Living Inca Town" since the inhabitants maintain very old practices and customs. Lunch is at a beautiful country estate on the shores of the Urubamba River.

Day 6, - Cusco – Mollepata - Soraypampa (L,D)

Very early in the morning, about 5:00 am, we’ll depart from Cusco by bus to Mollepata, place where we’ll arrive about 9:00 am; We’ll take a time to have the breakfast. After that, we’ll start the trekking to Cruzpata, where we’ll arrive about 12:00 m. Getting Cruzpata we’ll have our first lunch. After take a rest we’ll continue walking until Soraypampa (3850 m.a.s.l.) about 5:30 pm. There we’ll have dinner and camp.

Day 7,– Soraypampa – Salcantay – Chaullay Cancha (B, L,D)
After having breakfast about 6:00 am. We’ll start our trekking crossing Pampa Salkantay, getting to the left side of Umantany Cold Mountain that is next to Salkantay Mountain; about 12 m. We’ll be in the highest point (Salkantay pass 4500 m.a.s.l.). At this place we’ll see other mountains, also we could take some pictures, and after about 1 hour of rest we’ll have the lunch in the place called Huayrac Pampa. After that we’ll continue trekking down for about 4 hours to get Chaullay Cancha (2900 m.a.s.l.) where we’ll have the dinner and camp.

Day 8, - Chaullay – Santa Teresa. (B,L,D)

After the breakfast we’ll start the trekking about 8:00 am.to Collpapampa. On this part of the trek we’ll see some species of orchids, different kinds of plants, and some cornfields, fruit trees and a beautiful waterfall. Getting to the place called “La Playa” we’ll have the lunch. After that we’ll continue walking until get Santa Teresa (1650 m.a.s.) where we can take a bath in the hotsprings, before take the dinner. (Camp)

Day 9,– Santa Teresa –Aguas Calientes (B)

We will get up at 7.00 in the morning and after breakfast we start walking until Machupicchu hydroelectric (lunch) after lunch we will take the train to Aguas Calientes where we will spend the night in a hotel.

Day 10,– Aguas Calientes - Machu Picchu / Cusco (B)

We will have to get up at 5:30 am to take a buss to get to the Archaeological Site of Machu picchu; we will have a guided tour per 2:00 hours aprox. After the guided tour we will have free time for take picture. After that we’ll get down by bus to Aguas Calientes town where we’ll take the train to Poroy backpacker class (3:30 hrs aprox).

Afternoon ride back to Cusco