Inca Trail to Machu Picchu - Peru Vacation

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Peru Inca Trail Inca Trail Peru Travel

SERVICES INCLUDED

  • Luxury Peru Vacations fully customized according to your specific needs
  • 2 hotel nights in Lima, Peru
  • 2 hotel nights in Cuzco, Peru
  • 3 nights camping along the Inca Trail, Peru
  • 1 hotel night in Aguas Calientes, Peru
  • Daily breakfast included
  • Daily lunch and dinner while camping
  • Hotel taxes
  • Private transportation from the Airport to Hotel to Airport
  • Professional and friendly English speaking guides
  • All the fun and adventure trekking the Inca Trail

Lima, Peru

Lima was founded on January 18, 1535 by the conqueror Francisco Pizarro. Before becoming the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, it was a first class religious place of worship. During the colonial period, Lima reached its greatest splendor in the XVII century in which progress, the construction of great houses and palaces went together with the luxury and prosperity of the nobility made Lima the richest among all colonies.

Today it is a great city, it is the capital of the Republic of Peru, and it is a great metropolis with near 8 million inhabitants.
San Isidro and Miraflores: These are the two districts of Lima that are characterized by the modernity of their constructions and services. Today these two areas of Lima concentrate most of the best hotel establishments, restaurants, shopping centers, show centers, and the banking, commercial and managerial system.

Lima Historic Center was declared "World Heritage Site" by UNESCO. During the colonial time, the city of Lima, headquarters of the Viceroy, was walled and in this area the main Spanish constructions were built constituting invaluable historical monuments. The City of Kings as it was called, have constructions as San Francisco Convent, also declared "World Heritage Site" for the artistic jewels that it possesses and for their beautiful architecture.

Cuzco, Peru

Cusco (Cuzco) dates back about 1000 years before Christ when the Marcavalle culture was in force. In the past, Cusco (Cuzco) represented the center of the Incas civilization. It was the capital city fo the Andean state of Tahuantinsuyo. According to Inca’s legend Cuzco was founded by Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo somewhere between the 11th and 12th centuries. Later, due to an order by Spaniard Francisco Pizarro, this city of Cuzco was founded again on the 23rd of March 1534.

Cuzco is considered worldwide the archaeological capital of America. This title was given by "World's Navel" by the Incas. Today it is the first cultural center of Peru and has been proclaimed as "Humankind's Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO.

Cuzco is surrounded by so many archaeological sites like the Sacsayhuaman's Fortress, Pisac's terraces, Kenko, Tambomachay's Baths, and Ollantaytambo's Fortress are surrounding Cuzco and we cannot forget about Machu Picchu, discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911 and now known as the "Eternal City". Cuzco has many museums, churches and important sites that have made of this city a tourism center in Peru. The wild and adventurous side of Cuzco can be discovered walking The Inca Trail with amazing beauty of the Incas land surrounding Machu Picchu.

The Inca Trail and the Sacred Valley of the Incas are places that offer great sites to practice sports. The diversity of micro-climates make of this region an authentic paradise to practice the Adventure Tourism. The combination of factors like culture, the kind and friendly population, the colorful clothing of its inhabitants and the archaeological unique sites create the perfect set up for an adventurer looking for new sensations, pure energy, amazing landscapes and unique secrets of these lands.

Inca Trail, Peru

The Inca Trail or Camino Inca is located in the department of Cuzco, and it is the most popular trekking itinerary and possibly one of the most spectacular walks in the world. It forms part of the more than 23,000 km of roads built by the Incas across South America. Each year, some 25,000 hikers from all over the world walk the 43 km stone-paved trail, built by the Incas to get to the impregnable citadel of Machu Picchu, deep in the Cuzco cloud forest.

The Inca Trail sets out from Qorihuayrachina, at Kilometer 88 of the Cuzco-Quillabamba railway, and takes three to four days of tough hiking. The route runs through an impressive range of altitudes, where climates and eco-systems range from the high Andean plain down to the cloud forests. The trail climbs up through two highlands passes (the higher of the two, Warmiwañuska, lies at 4,200 masl) before reaching Machu Picchu through the Inti Punku or Gateway of the Sun. One of the attractions of the trail is that it winds past carved granite Inca settlements (Wiñay Wayna, Phuyupatamarca), and is surrounded by breath-taking natural scenery. The forests abound in hundreds of species of orchids, brightly colored birds and dream-like landscapes, the ideal complement to this indispensable hikers' route.

VistaDome Train, Peru

These spectacular carriages have beautiful panoramic windows offering unsurpassed scenic views and photographic opportunities. With glass surrounding them on all sides, passengers feel as if they are part of Peru's remarkable landscape.

Vistadome is the quickest way to visit Machu Picchu and apart from the carriages of the Hiram Bingham, the most comfortable. Snacks and hot and cold refreshments are included on the journey. The Vistadome runs between Cuzco-Machu Picchu and Sacred Valley-Machu Picchu. Passengers can also board and alight in Poroy (the closest stop to Cuzco), avoiding the switchback in and out of Cuzco and saving approximately half an hour off the total journey time.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu a historical Inca city located in the High Andes Mountains of Peru. Machu Picchu is located 43 miles north-west of Cuzco on top of the ridge. The surroundings are covered by dense bush that is covering some Pre-Colombian cultivation terraces.

Machu Picchu means "manly peak") was a royal city and religious retreat of the Inca culture. The city of Machu Picchu was build somewhere between 1460 and 1470 AD by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, an Inca ruler. The city is located at an altitude of 8000 feet above the Urubamba River Canyon. Machu Picchu is a city with approximately 200 buildings most of them residences, temples, storage rooms and other public buildings. Machu Picchu has a polygonal masonry typical of the late Inca period.

Approximately 1200 people used to live in the Machu Picchu area and most the inhabitants were women, children and priest of the community. Most of the buildings were made of granite blocks that fit perfectly without mortar, although none of the blocks are the same size and have many faces some of them with as many as 30 corners. The tight way the stones have been jointed does not even allow a thin knife to penetrate between them. The Incas planted crops such as potatoes and maize at Machu Picchu. To get the highest yield possible, they used advanced terracing and irrigation methods to reduce erosion and increase the area available for cultivation. However, it probably did not produce a large enough surplus to export agricultural products to Cuzco, the Incan capital.

Very few people outside the Inca’s closest retainers were actually aware of Machu Picchu’s existence. Before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, the smallpox spread ahead of them. The disease had killed Fifty percent of the population by 1527. The government began to fail, part of the empire seceded and it fell into civil war. So by the time Pizarro, the Inca’s conqueror, arrived in Cuzco in 1532, Machu Picchu was already forgotten.

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