Description
Overview:
- Duration: 2 days / 1 nights.
- Starting point: Cusco
- Ending point: Cusco
- Group Size: Max. 8, Avg. 4
- Travel Style: Hiking, Trekking, and Archaeological and Cultural trek.
- Trek Rating: The Huchuy Qosqo Trek is rated as an excellent alternative route for everyone.
- Difficult Level: Moderate to challenge
- Altitude: 3,800 masl to 4,100 masl or feet (Highest point).
- Walking distance: 23 km. / miles.
- Departure Dates: Daily departures with 2 people minimum.
Highlights:
- The Huchuy Qosqo trek is an excellent alternative trek to the traditional Inca Trail visiting the incredible Huchuy Qosqo Archeological site.
- Explore the Andean life along the trail and learn about the mysteries of the ancient Inca Culture.
- Hiking alongside to beautiful landscapes and see the Peruvian mountains, natural bridges and Andean valleys.
- Ideal for couples, group of friends, nature lovers, and for all the family.
- Informative Trip led by a friendly and expert local guide.
- All entrance tickets and permits are includes
- All necessary equipment included
- Complimentary pickup and drop off from all Cusco hotels
- Complimentary luggage storage while hiking.
- Once in a Lifetime Experience
What you can expect
The Huchuy Qosqo Trek is an excellent alternative trek visiting isolated Andean communities. This trek is designed for active people of all ages who want to have great moments in full contact with the nature and want to learn about the local villagers and the Inca civilization.
This great trek starts from Cusco – Peru, and you will visit remote high altitude villages. The conditions in the zone are harsh, and even though we will be camping in relative luxury with dining tent with tables and chairs, toilet tent, comfortable tents and air mattresses, the conditions are basic. There will be no opportunity to take shower but you can washing hands and face, and you should be prepared for extremely cold conditions. By the same time this trip has many beautiful views and nice encounters with the local people, so will most likely be the most memorable part of your trip to Peru.
Really it’s a unique experience, this trek combines outstanding views of the Peruvian mountains, unbelievable Andean landscapes of splendid natural surroundings, high mountain lagoons and wildlife and finally reaching to the amazing Inca site of Huchuy Qosqo, which is a magnificent work of the Inca masons, where you will admire its magic and charm, and you will see its large old buildings, amazing agriculture terraces, temples, water fountains, all this wrapped of a great history.
The Huchuy Qosqo Trek is one of those things that nobody should lose the opportunity to do it. Everyone should do once in lifetime; be you women or man, young or old, have good or bad physical condition… The Huchuy Qosqo Trek is simply for everyone…
FULL ITINERARY
DAY 1: CUSCO – PUCA PUCARA – HUCHUY QOSQO
Highlights of today: Hike thought the amazing High Altitudes areas… Conquest the tree Chullpas Pass over 4100 masl (the highest point)… Arrive walking to the incredible Inca site of Huchuy Qosqo… Have the possibility to appreciate the constellations in the sky at night clear.
We will pick you up from your hotel at 5.30 am to begin our trip, where you will meet your Tour Guide and cook, then we drive around 30 min. in our private van, during the transportation we can appreciate the Cusco City, until we arrive the interesting Inca site of Puca Pucara, which is located about 10 km. north of the City. This is the starting point of our trek. Here we will meet our Horseman who is waiting with our horses and mules. The horses will carry all the food and camping equipment and then we will start preparing all the equipment for your journey, meanwhile you have the chance to enjoy our delicious breakfast about 30 minutes prepared for our cook. After breakfast, around 7 am. We will start our hike, this part is a moderate hike about 3 hours uphill. This is a beautiful hiking day with stunning views and great landscapes passing for beautiful mountain lagoons as Qoricocha (Golden lagoon) and the lagoon of Yanacocha (Black Lagoon) located at 4000 meters, with a large concentration of wild birds. Once in top we continue our hike in a flat trail for about a 45 minute walk until Queullacocha lagoon, our lunch spot. The scenery at the lagoon is quite barren; this whole area is a high puna between the mountains and is covered with a tough Andean grass called Ichu. In this area it is possible to see a wide variety of birdlife such as Andean Geese, Partridges and a variety of birds of prey. After our lunch, we continue our walk for about 1 hour to reach the pass, which is the highest point of the trail (4100 m) where we will observe the three Chullpas, The archaeological Inca burial structures used to place Inca mummies. From the pass we will resume our hike descending for about 2 hours along the an spectacular and capricious geological formation, through what once was part of the original Inca Trail Network. We will arrive to our campsite around 5:00 pm. in the spot camping of Huchuy Qosqo, next to this amazing archeological site located at 3600 masl, where we will enjoy our te time and after your dinner will be served and we will spend the night in our comfortable tents under the stars.
Hiking time: 8 hours
Walking distance: miles/ 16 km.
Weather: Cool, windy
Altitude: from 3800 m. up to 4100 m. and from 4100 down to 3600 m.
Accommodation: Camping.
Day 2: HUCHUY QOSQO – CUSCO
Highlights of today: Enjoy the incredible Peruvian Andes… Explore the amazing archaeological site of Huchuy Qosqo…Learn about the Inca Civilization and customs of the local people.
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Today is an easy day hike. We will have our nutritious breakfast at 8:30 am in our camping site next to Huchuy Qosqo Inca site. Later we will pack all the equipment and then we will have our guided visit of Huchuy Qosqo (Little Cusco), which is perched above the Valley, and take nice photos of the place with sunlight. This place got its name in the twentieth century, it was previously known as Kajya Qhawana (where the lightning strikes). Here, you will see amazing Inca buildings with splendid architecture and the peculiarity that the buildings were built on stone bases finely polished finish, with clay plaster on the best preserved parts, but the upper floors are made of adobe (mud brick), you will see the sacred temples, storehouses, Inca terraces for agriculture, water channels and an Inca reservoir used to store water in the dry season. Your guide will take you on a tour of the site and is an expert in the history of the Incas, so he will explain and teach you about everything. Afterwards you will have time to explore the site by yourself. After your visit, from here we will begin our hike around 11:00 am. just downhill to the lowest part of the Valley. This area is a fertile valley known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The hike takes about 2 hours to arrive at the small Andean town of LAMAY (2800 masl.) located next to the Urubamba River, where we will have our delicious lunch and then we will say farewell to the cook who prepared all our meals along the way. Here our private car will be waiting for us, to take us back to Cusco City. If we have time spare, we can stop in the Awanacancha weaving center around 4 pm., where you can pet the south American camelids such as llamas, alpacas and vicuñas and moreover learn about the weaving traditions of the region. After this stop, we will catch our car in order to get back to Cusco arriving at 6:00 pm. approximately, and finally we will leave you at your Cusco hotel.
Hiking time: 4 hours
Walking distance: miles/ 7 km.
Weather: warm
Altitude: from 3600 m. down to 2800 m.
Important notes:
• The times described in this itinerary are approximate. The hiking times really depend of the shape and physical conditions of each person; feel free walking on your own rhythm. In benefit of the group, the Tour guide can change lunch spots and campsites depending on the progress of the group during the hike. Each guide has their own preferred and recommended route and it might not correspond exactly to the route described here.
What´s includes
INCLUDED IN YOUR TOUR:
- Pre meeting and briefing of preparation with your tour guide 1 or 2 days before the trek at our Cusco Office.
- Safe storage for your belongings at our office in Cusco while you are hiking.
- Pick up from your Cusco hotel.
- Transportation by private car from Cusco to Puca Pucara (trailhead).
- Professional English-speaking Tour Guide.
- A second Tour Guide (for groups of 11 or more trekkers).
- Cook and cook assistant to prepare all feeding.
- Entrance fees to Huchuy Qosqo Inca Site.
- All meals during the trek(02 breakfasts, 02 lunches, 01 tea times, 01 dinners)There is the possibility of preparing vegetarian or special diets according to your requirement.
- Boiled water to refill your water bottle and hot water for washing purposes.
- Horsemen and horses to carry all camping equipment, personal items, food, sleeping tents and kitchen equipment.
- We carry until 8 kg. / 17 lb. of your load, so you’ll only walk with your daypack with water (For this load, we will provide duffel bags at your briefing for your personal items).
- The best camping equipment to enjoy a good night’s sleep:
- Dormitory Tent (High Quality Mountain Tents for 4 people, it will be used only for 2 people for your better comfort) and enough space storage for your backpacks.
- Inflatable Mattress Thermarest.
- Dining Tent + camp tables + chairs + gas lamp for the evenings.
- Kitchen Tent and full cooking gear for preparing all meals.
- Toilet Tent.
- First Aid Kit and emergency Oxygen balloon.
- Pick up and Transportation by private car from Lamay village to Cusco Hotel.
OPTIONAL SERVICES: Until the last day before your trek, at our Cusco Travel Office situated in the downtown, If you want, you have the option to add to your reserved trek, for an additional payment, the following things:
- Sleeping bag (you can rent it from our Travel Office + $ 10.oo USD).
- A pair of trekking poles (you can rent it from our Travel Office + $ 10.oo USD).
NOT INCLUDED:
- Personal Trekking gear (please, check Huchuy Qosqo Trek – What to take list).
- Travel Insurance.
- Optional Gratuities for the travel team (feel free to tip, only if you want, at the end of the trail you can give some tips for the tour guide, cook and horseman).
What to take
Many people assume that the weather is hot in South America, but in the zone of the higher altitude of the Andes, the temperature can feel quite cold, especially at night. So we provide you the full list to organize your backpack from now, if you don’t have one of them, so you can buy it with some time in advance but if you cannot do it, don’t worry there are many camping stores in Cusco City where you can hire or buy what you need.
Please, check this HUCHUY QOSQO TREK Packing List and remember that everything is very important for the success of your trek.
Documents:
- Original Passport
- ISIC Student Card, if you are student
- Travel Insurance (some copies)
Essential:
- Day pack.
- Sleeping bag.
- Water bottle.
- Purifying tablets or filter
- Some small snacks such as cookies, candies, chocolates, dried fruit, energy bars etc.
- Money belt and some cash, if you want to buy some souvenirs of your visit
Clothes:
- Hiking Shoes and Sandals.
- Warm clothes: especially for the night as thermal jacket, glove, scarf, wool socks, wool hat for cold nights.
- Waterproof clothing (rain jacket and poncho)
- Synthetic or cotton clothing (hiking pants, socks, trousers, short pants, 4 t-shirts)
- Swimsuit, for the Hot Springs.
- Sun Hat
Pharmaceutical items:
- Personal medical kit with bandages and anti-inflammatory tablets
- Insect repellent.
- Sun block
- Lipstick
Toiletries:
- Small towel.
- Toothpaste and toothbrush
- Soap / body wash
- Shampoo and conditioner
- Hairbrush /comb
- Deodorant / body spray
- Toilet paper
Other items:
- Flashlight (head lamp recommended)
- Sunglasses
- Photo Camera with extra memory cards and batteries.
- Walking poles with rubber-tipped (Optional).
Pocket knife
- Some plastic bags.
- A sense of humor.
- We recommend a previous acclimatization in Cuzco City, for at least 2 days and general good health.
PRICE:
The price for the Huchuy Qosqo Trek – 2 days is calculated in shareable group service.
USD $ 250.00 per Adult (Age 14 +)
USD $ 230.00 per Student (For this price, you must mail us with a copy of your ISIC Card)
USD $ 180.00 per Child (Age 5-11)
USD $ 0.00 per Infant (Age 0-4) – For free, travelling with your parents.
IMPORTANT:
- Please note, this trekking require minimum of 2 people.
- Incredible Peru Tours- IPT does not have any hidden fees.