Lares Trek to Machu Picchu

For your Lares adventure, we will pick you up from your hotel at 5 a.m. to begin the famous Lares Trek. We can pick you up from any hotel or apartment if it is located in the cities of Cusco, Urubamba, Huaran, or Pisaq.

It will be a three-hour drive along the beautiful landscape of the Sacred Valley and through the Andes until we arrive at the Lares Hot Springs site.

Then, you will enjoy the hot springs, which are divided into various pools ranging from freezing cold to boiling. They are all composed of pure volcanic water, which is medicinal in nature and considered to be good for your bones, stress, muscles, and headaches. After soaking in the baths for a while, you will drive 20 minutes to the trailhead, Punta Carretera, at 3,300 m (10,827 ft) above sea level.

It is here that you will meet up with your horses and horsemen. You will give your duffel bags to the horsemen to be transported to the campsite. Following this, you will begin your expedition to Machu Picchu. To start, it will be a two-hour, gradual uphill hike until we reach our lunch spot at the first village, called Kiswarani. This section of the hike is considered the “potato valley sector,” where people farm many varieties of organic potatoes.

Your guide will also point out some indigenous medicinal plants growing along the way. Then, we will arrive at our lunch spot, where you will enjoy your first delicious meal prepared by our trekking chef.

After lunch, our horsemen (llameros) will do a ceremony with llamas, showcasing these beautiful animals. Llamas were considered sacred to the Incas and fundamental to their economy. Our llameros will introduce you to these animals and discuss their importance and why owning one is a sign of privilege. Today they are disappearing, constantly being with smaller animals. We hope to continue the tradition of the Incas and give some llamas work. This is our way of supporting the community that helps protect them. Llamas are friendly and strong animals and are nice companions to walk with. Just don’t get too close; they might try to give you a kiss.

You will also have time to explore the village and visit some local homes, where you will learn about the lifestyle and ancient traditions of the local people. If there is time, we will visit the school where the kids still speak Quechua, their native language. If you’d like, you may bring some toys, notebooks, or any type of school supply to share.

It will be another two-hour, gradual, uphill hike until we arrive at the campsite, where you will be welcomed by our trekking staff, who will have your tents set up. We’ll enjoy some hot drinks as the sky darkens and the stars start appearing. Finally, you will enjoy a lovely dinner prepared on-site. If you want to keep stargazing, you may stay up for a while longer, or, if you’d rather, you can turn in to your tent.

Today you will be woken up around 5 a.m. with our service of hot drinks. You will have amazing views of the colorful lake and the Kiswarani Valley. The local people will already be up and about, taking their llamas and alpacas out to graze.

Breakfast will be served as soon as you finish packing your gear. Then we’ll fill up our water bottles and organize snacks, and you will begin the most memorable day of your expedition to Machu Picchu. It will be a three- or four-hour climb to get to the summit of the mountain.

This pass is called the Pachacute, or Condor Pass. We’ll zigzag our way up to compensate for the steep uphill. The views of the area are stunning. You will see lakes, waterfalls, llamas, and alpacas. We will have an emergency horse to ride on in case you are tired. Once you arrive at the Condor Pass, you will be above the clouds and above the mountain peaks, and the surrounding 360-degree views are astounding.

In front of you will be the majestic mountain of Pitusiray, which is 5,700 m/ 18,700 ft high, and the Condor Pass is 4,680 m/ 15,354 ft high. Afterwards, we will enjoy the hot drink service that your porters will carry with them. We will take advantage of some phenomenal photo opportunities and start our descent.

You will begin the one-hour downhill descent towards El Mirador (Vista Point), where you will enjoy lunch. There will perhaps be some llamas grazing nearby. After lunch, you will hike the last three hours downhill, with fantastic views of many lakes and llamas and alpacas, before arriving at your campsite, the village of Cancha Cancha, which is the only village that does not have modern technology.

Canchacancha is a village (3,750 m/ 12,303 ft) where people still practice real traditions of the Incas. In this Incan village, 85 percent of the houses are still composed of original, ancient construction, made of stone with grass-thatched roofs. Unlike any other village in the Lares Valley, this village has no electricity or cars. Here, you will not only enjoy the wilderness, but your porters will also set up your tents. You will have some time to meet with the local children.

We provide them with food and school supplies, so we invite our travelers to share this support for the education and health of this native village. You can join us and bring anything you would like to supplement the lives of these Quechua-speaking children. Following this, your guide will take you to one of the local family’s houses, where you will learn about the lifestyle of the locals. You can see how they raise their guinea pigs, and you will learn about the traditional, hand-woven textiles made of llama and alpaca wool. This is the best day of your hike. In the evening, you will enjoy hot drinks and dinner.

Our porters will wake you up with a hot drink, and you will have some time to pack your bags and enjoy breakfast. After breakfast, you’ll have time to explore the village and visit the local elementary school, where the ancient Inca language, Quechua, is still taught. Once you are ready, you’ll begin the last leg of your Lares trek. It will be four hours of walking downhill along this lovely path, where you will pass by more llamas and alpacas.

We’ll pass by farms where they cultivate potatoes, fava beans, and many other traditional tubers in the traditional Incan style. This is a great opportunity to learn about Peruvian agriculture because people still farm by hand with traditional Inca farming tools. Now, we will start to descend to the warmer area, the Sacred Valley. You will begin to feel the microclimate changes and start seeing crops that are different from those in the high mountains.

Around the Sacred Valley, people farm corn, quinoa, kiwi, peaches, avocados, and other types of fruits. Of course, this area has a lot of Incan history. You will end the tour at the little village of Huaran, in the Sacred Valley, at 2,700 meters (8,858 feet), where you will say goodbye to your horses, horsemen, chef, and porters, as they will be going back to their homes.

From Huaran, we will catch a van and make the short drive into the valley to visit Ollantaytambo, the only living, intact Inca village. It still has many Inca water channels, houses, and walls. Your guide will take you around to view this small town until it is time for dinner, which will be at a local restaurant. We’ll then catch the 7 p.m. train for Aguas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu (train times may vary, depending on availability). Upon your arrival to Aguas Calientes, you will check in to your hotel and relax.

Day four is the most magical day because you will finally experience Machu Picchu. You will wake up early to catch one of the first buses (around 4:30 a.m.) for the 30-minute ride up to Machu Picchu.

You will see the sunrise over the ruins. Your guide will take you on an informative two-hour tour. Afterwards, you will have time to explore on your own and hike Huayna Picchu if you choose to (this is a separate entrance ticket and costs $75 per person).

In the afternoon, you’ll catch a two-hour train back to Ollantaytambo, followed by a bus back to Cusco, where we will transfer you to your hotel. Our Lares Trek service  will finish here.