Day One:
At 5.30 am you will be picked up from your hotel. You will travel by local bus to the village of Cachora. This trip of 4 hours is the start of the big adventure! We arrive at Cachora at approximately 10.00 am. and there we will prepare ourselves for the trek by putting our backpacks and all equipment on the pack mules. After that, we are going to walk for approximately 6 hours. During the hike we will enjoy a nice lunch at a place called Capulioc. Then we will hike to the Rosalinas Bridge over the Apurimac River, which is situated 1500 meters above sea level. We will camp here on the first night.

Day Two:
We will leave Rosalinas Bridge, heading in the direction of the next camping site called Sunchupata. Along the trail we will observe a change of vegetation and climate. Our hike takes us to 2900 meters above sea level.  After 5 hours of walking we reach the remote ruins of Choquekiraw.  After a good lunch and a well earned rest we will walk to the main square of Choquequirao, where we will observe the three levels of the excavated ruin. We will also see parts of the ruins being excavated as well as totally unexplored – that can tell us about this last refuge of the defeated Inca Empire. At approximately 3 o’clock in the afternoon (weather dependant) we may be lucky enough to appreciate “the flight of the Condors”.  We spend the rest of the afternoon in the ruins and set up camp nearby.

Day Three:
After breakfast we will have plenty time to appreciate houses, terraces and other parts of this late Inca town. After lunch we walk for approx. 3 hours through open grassland and cloud forest to arrive our next camp near the ruins of Pinchinuyoc, recently discovered in 1998. The ruins of Pinchinuyoc are something very special - all of a sudden they appear out of the cloud forest, almost invisible because of the thick layer of mosses and other vegetation that covers them. Here we spend the night camping very close to the old Inca Terraces.

Day Four:
We begin our walk through vegetation know as ‘Dry Andean Highland Forest’, with very different trees and plants to what we have seen before.  We meet with the river Victoria after a few hours and take a break to swim in the refreshing and clear river water.  After this we start the long and steep climb to our camp in Maizal high over the river – probably the most beautiful camp on the trail with views across three valleys and White Mountain peaks.  Once in Maizal we have our lunch, set up camp and spend the afternoon relaxing.

Day Five:
We leave our camp in Maizal and begin the long climb towards the San Juan pass. We first walk through cloud forest and then over high Andean grassland. We rest at some disused mines where metals and minerals were extracted.  We have lunch at the pass at 4000m above sea level, with views of the mountain Choquetakarpo, before we start the descent towards Yanama, a small isolated settlement at the bottom of a long valley surrounded by mountains.  Here we set up camp for the night.

Day Six:
We continue from Yanama up through the valley towards the highest point of the trek, The Yanama Pass in 4500m. On the way we have a good view of the snow capped Sacsarayoc. Once again we have the chance to see condors, and this morning’s climb brings us through new landscapes such as the wet grass fields under the snowline. As we walk over the pass we may walk on snow!  Once over the pass the descent is a long foggy hike through grassy fields towards the community of Totora, where we spend the night.

Day Seven:
After an early breakfast we start our seventh day of hiking. We will walk for around 5 hours, descending 2,000m down through the changing vegetation to the warmer camp at the village of La Playa. Much of the path follows a small river with waterfalls, and we may see parrots, hummingbirds, orchids, bamboo and much more in the tropical forest. The Playa is the biggest village on the way, where we can find some small shops to buy snack etc. In this area we can see small plantations of coffee and bananas. On arrival to The Playa we have two options:

Option One:
spend the afternoon in the The Playa and camp there.  On the morning of Day Eight, catch a public bus to Hidroelectrica.

Option Two:
Take local transport to Santa Teresa, a beautiful village in the cloud forest, where we spend the afternoon and camp.  On the morning of Day Eight we walk to Hidroelectrica on a recently discovered Inca trail.  This trail originally was used to transport agricultural products to the population on Machu Picchu and it takes us through an area with coffee plantations and subtropical fruits and crops.  We see for the first time the impressing Machu Picchu on a mountain saddle further into the valley.  We have lunch at Llactapata enjoying the views of Machu Picchu and the beautiful mountains before continuing to Hidroelectrica.

* You will decide which route you take this day with your guide as a group, either at the pre departure briefing or during the trek itself.

Day Eight:
After arriving in Hidroelectrica (time of arrival depends on which above option chosen) we hike from Hydroelectric to Aguas Calientes where we will spend the night in a hostel.
It is also possible to take the train from Hidroelétrica to Aguas Calientes instead of hiking, but you will have to pay for the cost of the train (about $10). 

Day Nine:
We get up early, at 5.00 am, to take the first bus (at 5.30 am) to Machu Picchu. We will have a guided tour of about 2.5 hours. After that you can explore the site yourself, or climb up to Wayna Picchu (you will need about one hour to climb up).
We need to be back in Aguas Calientes by around 2.30 pm to catch a train back to Cusco.