Sacred Valley trekking and Machu Picchu

Cusco, the imperial and cultural capital of the Inca Empire, sits above the amazing Sacred Valley, which stretches 30 miles in a 3,000 foot deep chasm. It's filled with villages, hiking trails, natural beauty, and history of the Incas. Join us as we make our way down the valley, hiking off the tourist track on rugged Incan trails, learning about the Incan civilization, exploring some of the most iconic Incan sites, and immersing ourselves in the culture, food and atmosphere of one of the most peaceful environments in the world. And we culminate with a trip to the must-see Machu Picchu, a mountain-top refuge never seen by the Spanish Conquistadors.  

We offer a 1 day add-on to visit the amazing Colored Mountains!

Your Western trip leader will be Dave Ashley and/or Shelley Johannesen. Dave is the owner of DASH Adventures, has climbed the 7 summits (including Denali and Everest), and has been trekking and climbing internationally since 2019. Shelley comes from an adventure racing background and has joined Dave on climbs since 2021, including: Everest, Aconcagua, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Cayambe, Island Peak, Lobuche East, and Mera Peak.

After your connection in Lima at sea level (usually overnight), by early morning you'll soon reach Cusco at 11,400 ft.  But don't worry about altitude, a driver will be waiting for you to whisk you down to Pisca, at 9,500 feet in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Today you can relax and enjoy the peaceful village, visit a medicinal plant shop, browse the Inca Market to see and buy locally made crafts, clothes, art and more. Grab lunch in one of the restaurants around the plaza, and then wander the narrow streets and get acclimatized to the altitude.    

After breakfast at the hotel, we'll ride up the twisting roads to the entrance of the Pisca Inca site at 11,300 feet.  But don't worry, we're not climbing today. We'll first get a guided tour of the beginning of the site, then we'll continue through the vast complex and make our way back to the village, about 5 miles, mostly down hill. We'll stop many times to take photos of the spectacular scenery unfolding before us. We'll creep down "andines", terraces hillsides tamed by the Incas for farming (from which the Andes get their name) and we'll be back for a late lunch. Use the afternoon and evening to revisit the Inca Market and other parts of the town you may have missed.  

Today we have a beautiful uphill trek! After breakfast, we’ll have a driver take us to Urquillos, about 30 minutes down the valley. We'll cross the Urubamba  river and walk through the village, enjoying the relatively flat first half of the trail. Further up, maybe a villager has snacks, coffee and "chicha" (homemade corn beer) for sale before we visit the waterfall, then continue up the valley. We'll take a slow pace and stop for a lot for photographs as the views open up down the valley. Our reward is Chinchero, an Inca terraced hillside and adjacent village. The trek is about 9 miles, 3,400 feet of elevation gain, topping out at 12,300 feet. We’ll take a slow, easy pace.  We'll visit the Chinchero local market and can have lunch in town if we need it. For the experience, we'll take a "collectivo" back down the valley to Urubamba, where our bags will be waiting for us at our hotel. We'll have time to visit the huge market complex, get a fruit juice, and explore the town in the center of the valley.  

We'll have an easy but early day today and learn about some Incan history. After breakfast in the hotel, our driver will pick us up at about 8:00 and take us to the top of the valley where we’ll visit Moray, an Inca experimental farm, then stop in the Maras for a short walk around town, followed by a visit the Moray salt pans. We’ll have the option to walk down to the valley floor instead of getting a ride. Our driver will pick us up at the bottom take us to Ollantaytambo. (You get a much closer look at the flats if you walk, about 3 miles, downhill).

In the afternoon we’ll have the option of a guided tour the Ollantaytambo fortress and/or take a short hike to granaries on the other side of the valley.  

Free time in town for sightseeing, shopping, and we spend the night here in Ollantaytambo.  

We start early from Ollantaytambo and hike across the valley and up to a ridge to the first Sungate that Incan travelers would go through on their trek to Machu Picchu.  

There are beautiful views along the ~13 mile (round trip) path, we gain 4,070 feet and top out at 12,800 feet. We'll be back in town by early afternoon, leaving you plenty of time to explore the markets and village life. If we're lucky, maybe there's a bullfight in the field above the town or a local festival!  

Today is a free day, or "active rest" as we like to call it. Rent a bike, explore the town, hike near the village, or hire a taxi to take you to a nearby archeological site. Or just rest! We visit Machu Picchu tomorrow with an early wake-up and a late arrival in Cusco, so save your energy!

In the morning, a guide will pick us up from our hotel and bring us to the train station. There we board a train and travel to Aguas Calientes, a town just below Machu Picchu. We'll get on a shuttle bus taking us up 25 minutes to the archaeological complex of Machu Picchu.

Once in Machu Picchu, our guide will show us the most important attractions of this antique Incan site such as its main square, the Sun Temple, Intiwatana (Sun Clock), the Royal Rooms, the Temple of the Three Windows and the Royal Incas Cemetery. This tour takes about 3 and half an hours and then you are given time off to explore around the complex and to take some amazing panoramic photos of Machu Picchu. 

We'll take a shuttle bus back to Aguas Calientes where we can have lunch.  

In the afternoon, we take a trainback to Ollantaytambo where our driver expects us in front of the train station to transfer us to Cusco, where we'll spend the night. 

A rest day! After a long day visiting Machu Picchu, train rides, and driving back to Cusco you can sleep in and explore the town. We'll store our bags at the hotel and explore the Spanish city that was built on top of the capital of the Incan Empire. We can visit the Incan Sun Place, the Spanish cathedrals, the vast market, and choose from numerous restaurants for lunch and dinner.

If you have the typical late flight from Lima to fly back home, take some more time to continue exploring Cusco before a taxi takes you on the 20 minute trip to the airport for you flight to Lima and home.

Option:  Colored Mountain Add-On (adds 1 day)

A guide will pick us up at our hotel in Cusco and drive us 2.5 hours to the base of Colored Mountain. From there it’s a short walk but high walk at 16,000 feet (that's higher than any point in USA's lower 48 states) to a unique  mountain landscape, only discovered recently after glaciers melted to reveal the stunning colors. On the return drive we can stop at an authentic restaurant and try some grilled guinea pig.     

If you opted for the Colored Mountain Add-On yesterday, then today you'll catch a flight home. Take some more time to continue exploring Cusco before a taxi takes you on the 20 minute trip to the airport for you flight to Lima and home.