A hike for the really good
walkers!!! You have to cross 4 passes, the highest 4560m, do steep climbings
and even walking downwards can be horrible Otherwise you have fabulous
views at for example the Pumasillo massif, Salkantay, other snow peaks,
deep canyons as Rio Blanco and Apurimac, you can see condors and meet
very friendly people.
Highlight is your visit of the ruins of Choquequirao, also thought to
be a ´lost city of the Incas´. Only since 1992 people are
working and restoring here and very few visitors come, because of the
remote area and difficult hike.
A hike for the really good hikers! Or you go on horseback (optional).
|
|
Itinerary
Below you can find a day-to-day description of the trek. You walk 6
to 8 hours a day.
day
1
transfer by bus Cusco - Santa Maria (8 h) and Santa Maria - Santa Teresa
(3 ½ h). This takes a whole night. There you start the hike, equipment
carried by horses. Whole day slowly going up, from 1500m with the tropical
vegetation to about 2300m. You pass the bridge of Suriray, then the communities
of Lucma and Sahuayaco , to camp in Lluzcamayu.
About 6 hours walk all day.
day 2
An other day of climbing, but you pass a nice hot spring, so take a bath!!!!
Today you reach a village also called Lluzcamayu, it seems to be an abandoned
place (even the teacher has gone), and from there you walk a nice, wide
area, pampa to Totora ( 3400m) to camp.
About 7 hours of walking today.
day 3
Heavy but beautiful! You have to climb to 4560m, the Yanama pass, first
part (2 ½ h) leaving Totora and having very good views at Salkantay,
then the steeper part (about 2 ½ hours) to reach the pass, with
a good chance of seeing condors. Behind the pass there are some glaciers
very close. And have a good look at the Pumasillo massif. Maybe you want
to climb one? Walking down to Yanama (2 ½ h) at 3450m shows you
a lot of lupines, waterfalls, and still all those peaks around you!
day 4
High in the Andes!See the village of Yanama below, and climb (2 ½
h) to an other pass, La Victoria, where you can enter abandoned silver
mines and probably see condors. What a work the miners did here until
the 60´s!
Down it goes, passing the mine La Victoria, on to Maizal, just 1 house….the
farmer will like a small talk!
You can camp here or 2 hours down at the river Rio Blanco, taking your
´machete´ with you to cut your path….
day 5
If you start at the Rio Blanco, cross it and go on in a rather steep climb
(2 h), finally reaching the ruins of ´Pinchu Unuyoc´ , still
covered, but very interesting in its walls and baths.
Continue the climbing! There is a fantastic viewpoint to see condors at
the remains of a control point. Then it´s still a 2 hours to cross
the Choquequirao pass and then 40 min. down to enter the ruins with the
same name.
Wonderfull, great, impressive, find your words……
You can camp in the lower part of the terraces or in the workers camp.
day 6
Take your time to explore this place!!!!!!!
Choquequirao was an important Inca site! It is the remotest of the major
sites on a ridge spur almost 1800m above the Apurimac river. It is suggested
to have been the place where the last Inca Tupac Amaru was raised among
Inca priestesses (Gary Ziegler). An other suggestion is that it was built
as a 'royal estate' for Topa Inca, son of Pachacutec (Vincent Lee).
Then walk into the Apurimac
valley, have a ´caña´ in Santa Rosa and cross the Apurimac
river. You can have a swim here…
Camp here or 1 hour up where is a small stream in Chikisqa.
day 7
It takes about 6 - 7 hours to reach the village of Cachora and there is
an other pass to cross, so a lot of climbing to do….
Be prepared: there is no water in about 4- 5 hours!!!!!
After the last climb your bus is waiting to bring you back to Cuzco, or
you go back the next day.
Included
Transfers,
food in the trekking,
camping equipment,
guide,
cook,
Horses to carry the equipment and food,
horse for emergency.
You bring
sleeping bag,
warm clothes,
raincoat or poncho,
water bottle,
first aid kit,
water purification pills,
repellent,
sun glasses,
hat,
etc.
|