Early in the morning, you’ll return to the Lima airport to take your flight to Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire. Upon your arrival, the Land of the Inkas team will be waiting to greet you. During the trip to the center in a private vehicle, the guide will give a brief introductory talk about the city. You’ll have the rest of the day free to acclimatize, relax and enjoy the exceptional atmosphere in Cusco, home to the some of the most amazing history and culture in South America.

On the third day, we’ll visit the most important tourist sites in the city and its surroundings. This is an opportunity to try new things and to learn about the history of Cusco and the daily life of its people. Our destinations today include churches, museums and archeological sites. In the afternoon, we’ll visit the fortress of Saqsaywaman and the complexes of Qenqo, Pucapucara and Tambomachay. All of these were highly important sites in the Inca religion and are located close to Cusco. After our explorations, we’ll return you to your hotel to spend the night.

We will leave Cusco early today to fully enjoy all the opportunities that await us. The start of the Salkantay trail is in Mollepata, a small village up in the mountains. On the way here, we’ll visit the ruins of Tarawasi. Once in Mollepata we’ll explore around and, if you like, talk to some of the locals about their lives and experiences. Before nightfall we’ll walk an hour to arrive in Parobamba, the first campsite.

We’ll make sure that you get a balanced breakfast this morning to keep you full of energy on the hike to Cruzpata. You’ll have great views of mountains important to locals, such as Humantay. After and tasty lunch we’ll continue on to Soraypampa. The people here are very friendly and welcoming and will give you a warm welcome. We’ll have dinner and camp here.

We’ll start the day with a climb to Salkantaypampa, a plain located at the foot of Salkantay. We’ll take a rest and take our time exploring around. After lunch, we’ll continue the hike towards Incachiriaska Pass and afterwards, before night falls, arrive at our campsite at Sisaypampa.

The hike today is spectacular. We’ll rise and eat breakfast early and make tracks for Pampacahua. We’ll have an alfresco lunch here and likely begin to see other hikers, as this town connects us to the Classic Inca Trail. Our day will end in the village of Huayllabamba.