Cusco Valley Tour

6:50 am: Pick up from hotel in Cusco and transfer to Heladeros

7:00 am: Meeting with the rest of the group. Here we will ride out in approximately one-hour journey through landscapes and interesting places to the village of Chincheros where the remains of the royal estate of Tupac Inca Yupanqui. Admire its well preserved Inca Wall in the main square and visit the beautiful colonial temple with interesting frescoes on the portico, built on the foundations of an Inca building. Continuing with our tour we headed Moray a series of circular platforms used by the Incas to recreate a series of microclimates where they planted a variety of crops improving them experimentally. Our next stop is the town of Maras and its salt mines, which are located in a narrow canyon next to the cereal plains surrounding the town of the same name. In the village, the houses preserved stone lintels XVI century decorated with religious inscriptions, coats of arms and Andean symbols. For the same canyon, Urubamba is reached by bicycle, on horseback or on foot, on a road surrounded by vegetation that crosses the river. Then we visit the salt mines, where locals produce salt for use and sale, so you can see the wells where the salt is formed in a special process. are constituted by about 3000 small wells with an average area of 5 sqm, during the dry season are filled or "water" every 3 days with salt water that comes from a natural spring located at the top of the wells so that when evaporating water, salt contained therein solidifies gradually, later the salt is struck and thus granulated; salt is then bagged in plastic sacks and sent to markets in the region; today that salt is being iodized reason why its consumption is not harmful. We continue to Urubamba where we stop to savor our rich and comforting lunch, and then continue to Ollantaytambo Fortress built to guard the entrance to this part of the valley and protect it from possible invasion from the tribes of the jungle. We will have the opportunity to walk through the narrow streets and get a clear idea of what this strategic military, religious and cultural center during the Inca Empire. Return stop and visit the town of Pisac, where we will have the opportunity to learn about the customs of its inhabitants and haggle prices with vendors at the typical Indian market. Return to Cusco approximately at 18:30 hrs (Plaza Regocijo).

 

Departures: Daily