Maras Moray
Itinerario
We will pick you up from your accommodation in Cusco at 7:00 am and travel for one hour by private van to Chincheros, a small village with beautiful views of the Sacred Valley. In this charming village, you will see adobe homes, narrow cobbled streets, and people in traditional Peruvian clothing. Here, the villagers still practice many Inca traditions and crafts. If you wish, you will see the demonstration of how wool is washed and dyed using native plants and minerals.
We will then continue our journey to Moray in order to see the fascinating site used by the Incas for agricultural experiments and cultivating seeds. There, you will learn how cleverly designed a drainage system at the bottom of the terraces in order to avoid flooding during the rainy season.
After the tour of Moray, you will take a 20 minute bus ride to the salt mines of Maras. At this amazing site, you can see the pans fed by saline spring water that were built on steep terraces along one side of a narrow valley. The water is sent through the network of channels where the water slowly evaporates leaving the salt behind. Salt has been collected from Maras since pre-Incan times and it is thought that a collective of salt miners has maintained the terraces and channels for hundreds of years.
We will continue our scenic journey to the amazing town of Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is a classic Incan city which conserves the traditional Incan urban construction of narrow streets adjacent to flowing streams. As you walk through the stone streets, the gentle sound of flowing water will make it easy for you to imagine the city as it was in the time of the Incas. In the upper part of the town, there is an impressive ceremonial center that was used for water worship and also a mighty fortress that protected the access point to the lower part of the valley. We will follow the beautiful route to Urubamba, the heart of the Sacred Valley, where we will stop for a buffet lunch.
After lunch, we will take you to the small village of Pisaq, where you can enjoy your lively artisan market and have some free time to interact with the townsfolk and to shop for handcrafts and souvenirs. Finally, you will be taken to explore the Pisaq Ruins before you return to Cusco between 6:30 am and 7:00 pm
Incluye / No Inlcuye
Included
- Professional guide fluent in English
- Assistant guide (for groups of 9 or more people)
- Private bus to the start of the trail
- Entrance fee to the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu
- Two-people tents with plenty of room for your belongings
- Sleeping mattress
- Meals cooked by an experienced chef: 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 3 dinners, and snacks!
- Delicious food that is rich in carbohydrates and suitable for trekking
- Coca tea served each morning in your tent for a gentle start to the day
- Boiled water to refill your Camel Back and water canteen
- Happy hour including hot drinks such as mate de coca and locally grown coffee which is prepared by our cook.
- Snacks every morning.
- Porters to carry the tents, food, cooking equipment, dining and kitchen tents
- First aid kit including emergency oxygen bottle
- Bus ticket from Machu Picchu down to the village of Aguas Calientes
- Expedition train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo
- Bus from Ollantaytambo to Cusco
Not Included
- Sleeping bags
- Breakfast on the first morning
- Lunch in Aguas Calientes on the final day
- Entrance to the thermal springs in Aguas Calientes (optional: 10 soles
- Tips for the guide, cook and porters
- Entrance to Machu Picchu Mountain or Huayna Picchu
Recomendaciones
What you need to bring
- Original passport
- Sleeping bag
- Insurance card/certificate
- Hiking boots
- Waterproof jacket or rain poncho
- Warm jacket
- Hat and gloves
- 2-4 t-shirts
- 2 pairs pants (1 for hiking, 1 for when you are relaxing)
- Thermal underwear for sleeping
- Hand sanitizer
- Comfortable trousers
- Sun hat or cap
- Sunscreen
- Insect repellent