Short Inca Trail – 2 Days/1 Night

ITINERARY:

DAY 1: CUSCO – WIÑAYWAYNA – MACHU PICCHU

Early in the morning, we will pick you up at your hotel for transferring you to the train station in Ollantaytambo for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, during the tour, you might see the Sacred Valley of the Incas, farmland, majestic snow; Ollantaytambo and board the train that will take you to the km. 104 the journey is approximately 1 hour.

It is here at Km 104 (2,200 masl / 7,217 ft.) where we will begin the walk, pass the bridge that is on the Urubamba river or Willkamayuc which translated from Quechua means “Sacred River” which was very important to them. Upon reaching the checkpoint, you’ll have to show identification documents either a Passport or Certificate of Alien Registration and National Identity.

A 15-minute walk is where there is the archaeological center and Choquesuysuy Chachabamba that are hidden in the semi-tropical forest, after this visit, we will begin the walkthrough stands in ascending to the next place, in the way, we will observe the Sacred Valley, waterfalls and different types of orchids semi-tropical forest, after 4 hours of walk, we’ll reach Wiñaywayna (2,650 masl / 8,694 ft.) which shows a perfect example of what was farming at the time of the Incas, as along its slopes lie a large number of circular terraces, where the Incas cultivated different agricultural products. The name “Wiñaywayna” comes from a beautiful orchid that abounds in the area and whose meaning in Spanish “Young Forever ” and has more than 20 buildings, one of them the “Temple of the Rainbow” also called Temple of Fertility, the visit will be 1 hour on average, then you will enjoy the lunchbox to refuel and continue until we reach Wiñaywayna control.

In this second part of the journey, we’re going to walk two hours through an Andean plane, stone staircases, and drums (“resting places”) until the IntiPunku – “Puerta del Sol /Sungate” (2,720 masl / 8,923 ft) in time of the Incas, it worked as an access control point to the citadel of Machu Picchu; from here, you may have a breathtaking panoramic view of Machu Picchu and the valley that surrounds it, then we’ll descend for about 30 minutes to the wonder of the world: Machu Picchu (2,490 masl / 8,169 ft.) and finally we’ll take the bus to “Aguas Calientes” – Machu Picchu People (2,160 masl / 7,086 ft.), the trip takes 25 minutes, here we’re going to spend the night in a hostel. If you are not too tired, you can visit the hot springs that are 5 minutes from the village the cost is 10 soles. For those who like to dance and have a few drinks in a bar, we’ll inform you that “Aguas Calientes” has a variety of bars and restaurants including an ATM, in case you wish to withdraw money from the bank.

Hotel night in the village of “Aguas Calientes”.

DAY 2: MACHU PICCHU – CUSCO

This day, we will wake up very early and after breakfast, we’re gonna board the first bus at 05:30 a.m, we will travel 30 minutes to get to the Citadel of Machu Picchu at 06:00 a.m and appreciate the majestic sunrise. We will have a guided tour of 2 hours and 30 minutes to know the most important places of Machu Picchu tour, you can visit the most amazing places like the Royal Mausoleum, the Temple of the 3 Windows, the Main Temple, the Sacred Square, the famous Intihuatana where wise Incas tied the sun on the winter solstice in June, steps, squares, fountains, etc.

In due time, we will descend from Machu Picchu to the village of “Aguas Calientes” to board the train back to Cusco, next time of arrival to Cusco around 08:30 p.m.