Cusco Classic 5 Days Cusco was the capital and seat of Government of the Kingdom of the Incas and remained so at the beginning of the imperial era, it became the most important city in the Andes and South America. This centralism gave rise to it and it became the main cultural focus and axis of religious worship.
Cuzco (also Cusco or Qosqo) was the religious and administrative capital of the Inca Empire that flourished in ancient Peru between c. 1400 and 1534. The Incas controlled the territory from Quito to Santiago, so their empire was the largest ever seen in the Americas and the largest in the world at the time. Cuzco, which had a population of up to 150,000 at its peak, was laid out in the shape of a puma and was dominated by beautiful buildings and palaces, of which the richest was the sacred Coricancha complex covered in gold and studded with emeralds, which included a temple to the Inca sun god: Inti. Cuzco is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Machu Picchu is located in the Cusco region.
Cusco is the historical and archaeological capital of South America, a title awarded by UNESCO to preserve its archaeological monuments and to keep their customs that come from the time of the Incas. Their great archaeological monuments defy time with huge complex which now amaze all visitors.
This is a half day tour starting with a visit the Santo Domingo Convent, famous for being built on the Incan sun temple structures, the main religious building of the Incas dedicated to the worship of the Sun. When the first Spaniards arrived they were amazed to see that the walls of the great temple were covered with gold plates. Following that tour, we will visit the Cathedral, a colonial religious monument of extraordinary artistic value with its fabulous paintings with a carved wooden frame, and the beautiful Church of the Company.
Continuing the tour, we visit the archaeological complex of Sacsayhuaman, where you will appreciate large terraces which overlap in zigzag formation surrounded by enormous stone walls well fitted with stone blocks exceeding 6 meters high and weighing over 120 tons. Simply a magnificent work of Incan architecture most worthy of being admired. You will also visit Q’enqo, which means “Labyrinth”. This place is a stone shrine that was used for ritual purposes. Also Pukapukara, which means “red fortress” because the calcareous stones with which is built have acquired the reddish color of the ground. And finally Tambomachay which was a sacred center of worship of water, that were also known as Incan Baths.
Start from 6:am Vist: Chinchero-Moray-Salt Mines-Ollantaytambo for which you must pack a small backpack and leave your bags at the reception of the hotel since that night will spend the night in Aguas Calientes (Machupicchu), to half day lunch will be a typical buffet in the city of Urubamba. Immediately after visit the complex of Ollantaytambo ending approximately 4pm.
Then they will board the train from ollantaytambo (to be defined), upon arriving at the station
Machupicchu an agent will be waiting at the station with a sign with his name and guide you to your assigned hotel. The guide will spend the night (to be defined) to explain how the tour will take place the next day to the mountain of Machupicchu.
Today we arrive at the long-awaited finale of our travel, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – Machu Picchu! We will wake up early after a refreshing night at our hostel to beat the crowds to the top of Machu Picchu and enjoy its serenity in the soft morning light. The Machu Picchu entrance check point is open from 06:00 AM until 17:00 PM.
Here we will have a 2.hour guided tour through this incredible ancient city .Be amazed at the engineering ingenuity of the Incas which was so far ahead of their time and still partially a mystery today!
Without having modern tools or even steel and iron to work with, the people who built this city were genius in organizing this community in a sustainable and beautiful way on the side of a mountain, even bringing water in canals through its streets for the people to use.
When a Peruvian guide showed this site to Hiram Bingham, it was almost unrecognizable, covered in thick vegetation and in a state of disrepair. It has since been cleaned and restored and is now protected and treasured by the world at large!
You will be able to stay and enjoy this magical city for as long as you need before hiking back down to Aguas Calientes. If you go down early enough, you can have lunch (it is not included but it can be added up to the package), visit the hot springs in town, go to a museum, or shop at the artisan market.
We will take our train ride at 16:22 hrs (subject to availability) to Ollantaytambo. A private bus will pick up our group and drop you off at your hotel in Cusco at about 20:00 hrs. Rest your feet and your body now, but we can assure you your heart will still be soaring for weeks and years to come.
Pick up from your hotel at 4:00 AM to begin driving to Humantay Lagoon. After picking you up at your hotel, we will begin our adventure to Laguna Humantay with a 2:00 hour trip by transportation to the town of Mollepata (2976 m.a.s.l.). In the town of Mollepata we will have a delicious breakfast and continue. by car to Soraypampa 1:20 hours (3850 m.a.s.l.) to start our day. In Soraypampa we will begin our walk to the Humantay Lagoon (4200 meters above sea level) with beautiful views and if the sky is clear enough we will be able to observe the impressive snow-capped mountains of Salkantay and Humantay. It’s a 1:45 hour hike to the lake with low to moderate difficulty, and it’s worth it when you take in the magical view. It is also possible to rent a horse. We will have enough time to take photographs, bring an offering to the Apus, after some free time, we will begin our descent to Soraypampa for approximately 1 hour, which is much easier than the way up. Lunch will be waiting for us in Mollepata and after a little rest we return to Cusco where we will arrive at 5 p.m.
We will pick you up from your hotel at 4:00 am to be transported for 1:30 hours until arriving to the town of cusipata we will have breakfast where we can buy sodas, energizantes, chocolates, cookies, etc. We will continue 1:30 more minutes by car until arriving to the village of Chillihuani where and also place where we will start hiking, we will hike uphill for 1:40 hours , throuhout the walk we will appreciate the Alpacas and llamas until arriving to the summit of the Vinincunca Mountain best known as Rainbow Mountain located at 5000.m.a.s.l. Once in the summit we will have a guided tour, time to meditate . There is also an option if feel tired or bad you can do it on horseback. we will descend for 1;20 to villge chillihuani where we will catch our car to lunch 1:30 hours until arriving to the village of Cusipata lunch place again, where we will catch the car that will transport us back to Cusco where we will be at 4:00 pm.
Hiking distance: 4 Km / 14271 ft (1:45- hours).
Summit altitude: 5000 meters above sea level.
Feeding: breakfast and lunch.
Considered: not so hard but take care about altitude.
Area: Sierra and puna.
Weather: cold and windy.
