Beyond Machu Picchu lies a remote, wild region of cold high uplands and hot tropical valleys known as the Vilcabamba. The is a steep mountainous region of extreme relief that served as a jungle border province and later, last refuge for the Inca resisting the Spanish colonization of Peru. Altitudes vary from tropical river bottom canyons below 2000 meters to mountain heights on up to almost 6000 meters. Thick cloud forest vegetation covers much of the area up to around 4000 meters.

In the year 1536, three years after the fall of the Inca empire to Spanish adventurers, Manco Inca, grandson of the last great ruler Huayna Capac, led a rebellion against the Conquistadors. Retreating from a failed siege of Cusco, Manco and his followers established court in this remote region maintaining vestiges of Inca tradition, religion and statehood out of reach of Spanish authorities. The Inca built a network of roads and trails connecting outposts, settlements, shrines and ceremonial centers which Barry Walker first explored it 25 years ago when still unknown and covered with forest. Now we offer this program as a unique adventure trek experience with pack mules, comfortable camps. Our ultimate goal is to visit the large Inca ceremonial site of Choquequirao, a distant replication of its more famous sister site Machu Picchu. Choquequirao is being proposed by the Peruvian government as a major tour destination. Currently a stay at Choquequirao is like a visit to Machu Picchu in 1915 and more difficult to get to!

The expedition is 19th Century style using pack stock to carry supplies, camp and amenities. Our Quechua speaking packers supported by professional cooks insure comfortable, organized camps. Delicious meals and daily happy hour/tea are served in a dining tent. A pan of hot water with mug of coffee or tea served at your tent greets each day. We require that all participants be in good health and physical condition. We hike up to seven hours on some days.

The expedition is 19th Century style using pack stock to carry supplies, camp and amenities. Our Quechua speaking packers supported by professional cooks insure comfortable, organized camps. Delicious meals and daily happy hour/tea are served in a dining tent. A pan of hot water with mug of coffee or tea served at your tent greets each day. We require that all participants be in good health and physical condition. We hike up to seven hours on some days.

This will be a travel day from home and most flights from North America and Europe arrive in the early to late evening. We greet you off your flight and take you to a small safe hotel just 12 minutes from the airport or you can ask for the available upgrade to the 4* Ramada Airport Hotel right next to arrivals.

Flight to Cusco. We will meet your arrival at the Cusco airport and escort you to our centrally located hotel. Time off and then lunch with your guide. The afternoon is scheduled for a walking introduction to the archaeological and colonial highlights of the old capital of the Inca’s and the nearby important ruins... This 3-4 hour tour takes you to all the important Inca sites in Cusco town and environs . We start with a visit to the most sacred of Inca sites - the Koricancha . Winding out of town we will take in the megalithic fortress of Sacsayhuaman where our ride leader describes the rituals and ceremonies that would have taken place at the massive walled limestone constructions and sculptured terraces surrounding the immense central plaza the strange temple of Kenko and the water fountains of Tambomachay. We gather for dinner and discussion at our favorite restaurant near our centrally located comfortable lodging in Cusco. B: L:D.

Leaving Cusco in the rear view mirror, we travel by van over a low pass then down into the famous Sacred Valley of the Incas. The scenery is unsurpassed close and distant snow peaks glistening in the sun. The Sacred Valley is the location of the major Inca temple/fortress of Ollantaytambo. Probably built by the great Inca ruler, Pachacuti in the 1460s, it was the site of Hernando Pizzaro’s defeat by Manco Inca in 1536. Constructed of finely cut polygonal stones and rhyolite blocks, the fortress and nearby town represent the best of Inca architecture and construction. Large worked blocks, some weighting as much as 100 tons were quarried from a site more than a thousand vertical feet above the valley floor using a technique of pecking with hammer stones, then skidded down and across the Urubamba river several kilometers to the temple site. Inclined ramps were built to raise the blocks several hundred feet up hill to the construction area. We have ample time to examine the complex and ponder its many mysteries. We will also undertake a hiking tour of the extensive Inca hill top complex of Pisac. We spend the night at our selected country hotel Dinner and good conversation follows...we slip off to our rooms to ponder the mystery of the last Incas before drifting into undisturbed slumber. B:L:D

An interesting two hour ride on the Orient Express tourist train, and sway with all of the accompanying sounds and smells of rural Peru takes us to our final destination, Machu Picchu and the bustling town of Aguas Calientes located some 2,000 ft, below Hiram Bingham’s great 1910 discovery.

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.

MACHU PICCHU - Situated on the spine of a jungle cloaked granite peak towering some 2500 feet above an entrenched meander of the roaring river below, the site is frequently shrouded in misty clouds pierced through by the powerful equatorial sun. Constructed from precisely sculptured granite blocks carefully joined with the exposed stone of the mountain, it may well be the finest architectural achievement of the new world. We catch the afternoon train back upriver to our lodging in the Inca town of Ollantaytambo. B:L:D

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Does not include air Lima-Cusco & Puerto Maldonado – 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