This Alternative Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, named Inka Jungle Tour, let you to appreciate on a better way the lanscapes located on North West from Cusco, with a combined tour with biking (Optional), getting finally the incredible Machu Picchu.
We highly recommend you to book this trip at least 4 to 8 weeks in advance!
Itinerary
Day 1: Cusco – Santa Maria
Adventurers will be picked up early morning and driven through the stunning Sacred Valley, cradle of the Inca civilization, passing at the 4,316m high Abra Malaga and and dropped off in a place called “aeropuerto“, Here bikers will change in to the kit provided by us (gloves, elbow pads, knee pads and helmets) following the recommendations of our experienced tour guide. Then the fun will begin, freewheeling down quiet but challenging roads, past changing landscapes and ice capped mountains, you will not want to catch your breath until the first pit stop in Alfamayo or where the group decide it. After that we will continue till arrive to Huamanmarca (place where we can have lunch or boxlunch), site of a recently discovered archaeological Inca finding. Your tour guide will provide the historical background and the rest you can fill in for yourselves! After that we’ll continue till arrive to Santa Maria town where we’ll spend night at a family and very basic hostel and sleep.
Day 2: Santa Maria – Santa Teresa
Around 5.30am, shake off your weary limbs and enjoy the finest indigenous coffee prepared by your landlady for breakfast which is at 6am. Under dawn skies you will begin your walk, which gets progressively steeper, until arriving at the welcoming family restaurant, where you can relax in hammocks, admiring the coca plantations and take on refreshments while being entertained by the family monkey. After a short while you will reach the real Inca Trail, which winds around precipitous slopes and sheer drops for approximately half a mile. Be warned this is not for people who suffer from vertigo! The descent continues for just over two hours until you reach Qellomayo, a pueblito, where you will have lunch. Make sure you have saved enough energy for the final stretch, a riverside walk beside the Rio Vilcanota until reaching the charming lodge of Santa Teresa. Here you should sleep well after a good dinner.
Day 3: Santa Teresa – Aguas Calientes
Wake at 7am, have breakfast before taking private transport to the hydro-electric train station, the base town for Machu Picchu. in this town we will have lunch after that we will walk until to arrive to aguas calientes and ww will have dinner at a local restaurant before retiring to your hostal with hot water and private bathrooms.
Day 4: Aguas Calientes – Machu Picchu – Cusco
An early rise today, as you will take the first bus to Machu Picchu at 5.30am, reaching Machu Picchu at 6am, which with luck will coincide with a beautiful sunrise! Your guide will leave no stones unturned but feel free to challenge their knowledge of Inca history. Afterwards you have free time to dally with the llamas and show off your photographic skills. Those who still have the will can tackle Wayna Picchu, which actually looks down on Machu Picchu. A frequent bus service takes visitors back to Aguas Calientes, where you will catch the train to Ollantaytambo and then the bus to Cusco.
Inclusions
Included:
- Transport from Cusco to Abra Malaga
- Professional, bilingual guide
- Mountain bike with front suspension gloves and helmet.
- Meals, including lunch on the first day through until breakfast on the last day.
- Accommodation includes homestays with hot water
- Transport Santa Teresa – Lucmabamba
- Hostal in Aguas Calientes, last night
- First Aid kit
- Bus service from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu
- Entrance to Machu Picchu
- Train back to Hidroelectrica or Ollantaytambo and then bus to Cusco.
Not included:
- Final lunch in Aguas Calientes
- Hot springs in Santa Teresa US$4.00
- Bus down from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes US$7.00
- Train from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes