Lares Trek & Inca Trail 5 Day 4 Night

Your guide will wake you with a hot mug of tea or coffee to enjoy before you get up for breakfast. Feeling all revved up to begin our second day, we begin our 7 hour hike northeast. It starts out as an intense walk, accomplishing high passes on our way to the highest point of our trek at Pachacutec Pass (4,500m /14,800 ft). Motivating you along the trail for this intense part of the trek are the views of glaciers, remote lakes, alpaca herds, rugged valleys and spectacular mountain vistas. Keep your eyes on the sky for the Caracara falcons and Andean geese! After enjoying the summit, we descend for 3 hours until we reach our campsite located by the Quiswarani community, (3,700m/12,139ft). On the way, we will be taking an isolated trail where we will see indigenous highland people in their traditional outfits herding their llamas and alpacas. The local indigenous people will interact with you in Quechua (the Incas’ language). Your guide will act as your interpreter to translate and teach you some Quechua language. When you arrive at the spectacular seven waterfalls, you are almost to the campsite! At the campsite, everything will be ready. Enjoy hot drinks and appetizers before dinner, then snuggle in for a comfortable night sleep.

• Meals included: Breakfast – Lunch – Afternoon Tea – Dinner
• Accommodation: Camping facilities with bathroom building
• Distance: 12kms / 7.5 miles
• Time: 7hrs approximately
• Difficulty: challenging

Your adventure continues as you begin the most scenic day yet!  We begin our ascent for 3 hours until we reach the Willqaqasa Pass, (4,200m/13,779ft) getting a bird’s eye view of the reflections of the mountains in mirror images in the glacial lakes. The majestic Colquecruz and Pitusiray Mountains are inspiring to admire from the pass. We continue our trek through the Puna grasslands, productive agricultural sites and natural pristine lakes. Time to descend for 2 hours to the Cucani community. Connecting with the local indigenous children, you may have the opportunity to visit their school and share in some quality time with the students. From Cuncani we meet the driver and ride down through the valley with extensive agricultural areas, fruit bearing trees, varied flora and native flowers like begonias and wild orchids. Finally, we reach our destination, the Lares Hot Springs (3,100m/ 10,170ft), where we can soak in the natural volcanic hot springs for an hour, have lunch and relax. Time for our goodbyes for our remarkable chef and horsemen. After lunch in Lares, we take our private transport to 2.5 hours Ollantaytambo, where we have dinner together and spend the night in our hotel.

• Meals included: Breakfast – Lunch – Afternoon Tea – Dinner
• 3* Accommodation: Andenes del Inca Hotel Ollantaytambo
• Distance: 15kms / 9.3 miles
• Time: 6 hrs approximately
• Difficulty: Moderate

You will be picked up for your short Inca trail hike from your hotel at 5:30 a.m. Following, we will go to the train station and leave on the 6:10 a.m. train from Ollantaytambo. This is one of the most beautiful train rides in the world, with its extraordinary views of the Urubamba River, the snow-capped mountain peaks, and cornfield farms. As we descend, you will see the micro-climate changes, from the mountains and cornfields to green jungle valleys with ferns, bromeliads, and orchids, as the temperature starts to get warmer. This train ride is one hour and 45 minutes to Km 104, where we’ll disembark to meet your trekking chef and porters. You will also enjoy breakfast before starting your trek. Be sure you bring your original passport since this is the very first checkpoint along the Inca Trail. After breakfast, you will have some time to prepare before beginning the hike. Soon after, we will get to explore the first Inca site Chachabamaba. Chachabamaba was the first ancient Incan checkpoint for entering to the Inca trail. Your tour guide will give you some background history on this ruin, followed by the three-hour climb up to the most famous Inca site along the trail, Wiñay Wayna. You will see amazing views of the Machu Picchu Valley and the Urubamba River along the trail, as well as the flora and fauna native to the area. There are also waterfalls and spectacular views of the Machu Picchu Mountain. The trail itself has some flat areas, as well as some short uphill and downhill hikes. It also has steps arranged in sections that can be narrow in some areas, but not dangerous. Once you arrive at the Wiñay Wayna Inca site, you will have time for a tour by your tour guide. He will also provide time for exploring the Inca site, temples, waterfalls, gardens, storehouses, watchtowers, and farming terraces. It is only a short walk to the lunch spot, where your trekking chef and porters will be ready with cold drinks and delicious, fresh food, prepared by our cook, and served buffet-style. After lunch, there will be time for a short nap. Following, it will be a one hour, gradual up and downhill hike to get to the Sun Gate, where you will have spectacular views of Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu, and the surrounding valleys. The Sun Gate was used by Incas to observe the sunrise from Machu Picchu during the summer solstice. From here, it is another hour hike to the Machu Picchu ruins. Once in Machu Picchu, you can explore the watchtower area where you can get charming pictures of Machu Picchu (without crowds). We’ll then take the 20-minute bus ride to the campsite of Puente Ruinas. When you arrive at the campsite, your tents will be all set up. You will meet your porters, and enjoy a social happy hour with hot drinks and dinner. Later in the evening, we’ll have a small ceremony with your chef and porters to say goodbye to them. They will still be there the next morning to cook breakfast. This is the proper goodbye. * This hiking route is identical to our 2 Day Inca Trail with Hotel. Lares Trail Highlight: Trekking the Inca Trail, enjoying the views from the Sun Gate, sunset views from Machu Picchu, camping at the foot of Machu Picchu Walking Distance: 15 km / 8 miles Meals: Included Elevations: Trek starting point 2,000 m, the highest point is Sun Gate 2,720 m, the camp is at 1,900 m Weather: Hot and humid