We pick you up at your Cusco hotel at 8:00 am and drive a short distance up out of the Cusco basin to meet the waiting horses. Our journey begins in nearby rolling hills, noticeably etched by ancient fields and agricultural terraces. Today is a day for following primitive trails across the high Andean altiplano and enjoying spectacular scenery along the way with snow-capped mountains, wildflowers and beautiful mountain lakes. Meet smiling Quechua children with their herds of sheep or cattle and see peasant farmers plowing their fields in the traditional way; a pair of oxen hitched to a wooden plough. You may even share a chicha (a traditional maize drink) with them. Passing several blue lakes hosting a noisy assortment of Andean water birds, just before Chinchero a delicious picnic lunch and our back up team awaits you. Later we arrive at the famous Indian market town of Chinchero at around 12,000 feet in altitude. An early colonial period church and large plaza frame well-made Inca walls that once were part of the Emperor Huayna Capac's Royal Estate. Our plan is to visit here during one of the market days when the plaza is full of tents with Quechua vendors selling every conceivable native handicraft, pottery, weavings, paintings and artifacts. Each day we plan an option for those who prefer just a half day ride in the morning with more time at the site and a ride in the van to the next inn. After a lakeside lunch, we journey on through stone walled Inca terraces and to our hotel the simple but pretty Casa de Barro. The main square of the town is famous for its massive Inca wall, set with ten of the largest trapezoidal niches known among Inca structures. This was probably the base wall of a palace - perhaps that of Topa Inca - that once overlooked the square. At Chinchero there should also be the chance to visit a textiles workshop and see a demonstration of the ancient techniques of spinning, dying and weaving wool. The beautiful fabrics are still made in the same way as they would have been made in Inca times. Take some money as you may want to buy some souvenirs (although please do not feel obliged to buy anything). We corral our tired horses with waiting alfalfa and grain, then off to a hot bath before meeting again for dinner. (Saddle time 4-6 hours.) B:L:D

Day 2: RIDE CHINCHERO MARAS MORAY AND TIOBAMBA
A leisurely breakfast and cups of tasty Peruvian coffee fuel us for the day's adventure. We move smartly out at a trot along rolling foothills and fields with the glittering snow peaks and snowfields of Chicon and Wakaywilca. We are on a high plateau of rolling hills and immense grasslands. A spectacular panorama of the great Ice peaks of the Vilcanota range crowns the near horizon. The destination for the afternoon ride is along some beautiful trails high up in the mountains and we pass agricultural lands and some very small farming communities. You will see women with their children herding their sheep and enjoy a glimpse of real Andean country life. The locals here usually speak Quechua and although they have a hard life they are very friendly. We’ll ride towards the agricultural terraces of Moray. Moray is an enigmatic Inca site where hundreds of years ago, people in this region took four huge natural depressions in the landscape and sculpted them into levels of agricultural terraces that served as an experimental agricultural station for the development of different crop strains. This was possible due to a fascinating phenomenon: the climates of many different ecological zones were present at a single site. In the thirty or so meters of altitude between the bottom and top levels of Moray's main depression, scientist John Earls has recorded a full 15 degrees Celsius (59 deg. F) difference in temperature. That is equal to the difference between the mean annual temperatures of London and Bombay. It is likely that Moray played a key role in the original transformation of maize into a high-altitude crop. There are no great ruined structures in Moray to amaze you; it is more for the contemplative traveler or farmers! From Moray we continue our ride back to Maras and Tiobamba which will take about two hours. Sometime around mid-day we arrive at the isolated cathedral of Tiobamba seeming lost and forgotten by time and modern civilization. We are pleasantly surprised to discover our support vehicle and crew awaiting us with the table set for lunch. We continue our ride via back trails to Chinchero again for the night. (Saddle time: 6-7 hours) B:L:D

Picking up our rested horses we’ll ride along the side of Lake Piuray once more perhaps stopping at the Inca Ruins of Cuper Alto and onto the traditional village of Tauca. Amidst waving children and curious parents peering from doorways at the unusual site of gleaming horses and gringos, we trot along the old Inca route well away from the modern paved highway. Following a walled pathway we head for some spectacular craggy peaks. We could be back in the 16th century. Modern Peru is centuries away. Heading northeast and to the right of the jagged skyline to a pass marked by two stone cairns or “apachetas”. The view from the pass is stupendous with views of the Vilcanota and Ausangate massifs and the sacred glaciers of Qoyllur Rit’i. Bearing left on undulating terrain we reach gently to a second pass with views of Chicon and its glaciers. Following a valley down to we reach some ruins once the gateway to the ruins of Huchuy Qosqo. A stunning view greets you 45 minutes later –the ruins of Huchuy Qosqo set out below on a small plateau and beyond a 1000 meter drop into the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the village of Lamay (where our stables are) – truly spectacular. Here we rest our horses and explore these seldom visited ruins. Commanding a magnificent view of the valley floor we explore the ruins on foot. There is a fine “Kallanca” or great hall some 40 meters long overlooking a ceremonial esplanade with fine terracing and many ancillary buildings. Winding our way down a long ravine to Calca we leave or hard working horses and ride by van right to the door of our Quawana Boutique Hotel in Huaran for the night. (Saddle time: 6-7 hours) B:L:D

Today is our final day of the ride. We can sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast overlooking the rushing Urubamba River before a short drive reunited us with our horses for the last time. Today we ride along the Urubamba River thru cornfields and much deserved flat terrain after yesterday. Much of the riding today is along trails that are part of the great Inca Empire’s road system, the Capac Ñan. The Inca road network was one the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken in the New World, rivaling the Roman road system in the Old World. The 25,000 km network linked Cusco, the Inca capital, to the empire’s far-flung domains. The road system reached almost all of the Andean territories, including Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile and was formed by four main roads clearly recognizable, plus many secondary roads. Reaching the bridge at Lamay we cross the river an clatter thru the back streets of Lamay and up the valley for a mile until we reach our stables. Our horses will pick up speed as they know home is in sight! WE’ll dismount at the stables take some refreshment and then our van will return you to Cusco or any hotel in the Sacred Valley (Saddle time 2-3 hours) B:L

 Availability:

 Purchase this trip now:

 Dates 2012:

 Dates 2013:

Does not include air Lima-Cusco-Lima but we will do this on request – the price depends on when we get your full name, deposit and passport numbers – you can check current prices at www.LAN.com and www.StarPeru.com

ADD A DAY AND OVERNIGHT AT MACHU PICCHU TO YOUR TRIP FOR AN EXTRA $550 USD!

MACHU PICCHU, one of the most magical and mysterious places on Earth! Situated on the spine of a jungle cloaked granite peak towering some 2,000 ft. above an entrenched meander of the roaring river below, the site is frequently shrouded in misty clouds pierced by the powerful equatorial sun. Constructed from precisely sculptured granite blocks carefully joined with the projecting exposed stone of the surrounding mountain, the site may well be the finest architectural achievement of the new world.

Day 1: SACRED VALLEY TO MACHU PICCHU

Our magical journey starts with the narrow gauge train ride to the New World's most spectacular archaeological monument, Machu Picchu. We breakfast then hop aboard the morning narrow gauge train heading down valley. An interesting hour of click, clack and sway with all of the accompanying sounds and smells of rural Peru takes us to the bustling backpacker town of Aguas Calientes, the portal for Machu Picchu. Soon we are gathered at the gateway to famous "Lost Cities of the Incas" Our guide concludes the story of the rise and fall of the ancient civilizations of the Andes with the tragic end of the Inca and the enigma that this remarkable site remains. We bus back down to Aguas Calientes for overnight at the very comfortable El Mapi Hotel. B:L:D

Day 2: MACHU PICCHU TO CUSCO

All morning at leisure to explore the ruins, lunch at our favorite French Bistrot and afternoon Cusco bound train, we arrive back in the Capital of the Inca early evening B:L: