THE SACRED VALLEY EXPERIENCE
Exploring the wonders of Peru
Highlights:
Cuzco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu,
Major Cities/Towns:
Urubamba, Aguas Calientes, Pisac & Cuzco
Cultural Impact:
Great opportunities to learn about nature, geography, history, and culture. Connect with locals of the Sacred Valley on a highly immersive cultural exchange experience.
Variety of Transport:
bus/van, walk, hike and train
Activity:
Moderate to Difficult: Hike along the trail can be a challenging walk and requires a good level of physical fitness.
Unique Local Experiences:
The tour provides you with an opportunity of homestay with local families of the Sacred Valley. Students get hands on experience and training to work with a local community.
Program Outline
D-01 Departure – Lima
D-02 Arrive at Lima Fly Lima – Cuzco
Drive Cuzco – Urubamba
D-03 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-04 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-05 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-06 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-07 Urubamba (Visit Pisac Market)
D-08 Trek Day 1: Inca / Lares Trail
D-09 Trek Day-2: Inca / Lares Trail
D-10 Trek Day-3: Inca / Lares Trail
D-11 Trek Day-4: Inca Trail – Machu Picchu – Cuzco
D-12 Cuzco – Lima
D-13 Lima – Departure
THE SACRED VALLEY EXPERIENCE
13 days exploring the wonders of Peru
D-01 Departure – Lima
Check in and board your flight to Peru.
D-02 Arrive at Lima
Dep. Lima – Arr. Cuzco
Drive Cuzco – Urubamba
At Lima airport. We will assist you through immigration and then through customs to the main arrival hall. *The use of hotel will depend on our flight schedule, if the connecting flight to Cusco is early, we will stay at the airport until the next flight.
The flight to Cusco (little over an hour) takes us over the Andes into the heart of Cuzco Valley and to Cuzco City, located at about 3,400 metres above sea level.
We will meet with our local guide and driver who will welcome us and help with our transfer to the Urubamba Valley. Here at the school you will be welcomed by your local host families. Your families will escort you to their homes where you will stay for the next few days.
Today we will spend some time orientating ourselves in the community. We will meet at the project site (school) later this afternoon to review our plans.
D-03 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-04 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-05 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-06 Urubamba (Community Project)
During our stay in Urubamba we will be working at a local school. Our daily schedule looks like this:
08:30 AM Arrive at the school and start your tasks for the day:
During these days we have various projects to work on: helping in the computer lab, painting and fixing the furniture, fixing the grounds and the garden, interacting with the students and working on your communication skills, etc.
12:30 – 1:00 PM Lunch Break: you will go back to your family homes and take a short rest.
03:00 PM Return to the School for work
05:30 PM: Finish Work. We will have time to reflect and take part in some fun activities. We will walk you home afterwards in time for dinner with your local families. Shower and change and have a good night’s sleep.
Note: During your community work days, you can wear comfortable work clothes, bring your work gloves, hat, sun block and drink lots of water.
LOCAL WORKSHOPS
In Urubamba, we may take part in a couple of creative workshops:
1. Inca Style Ring Making workshop:
This workshop gives us the opportunity to work with a local jeweler in the community. We will be guided through the process of designing a traditional Inca ring.
2. Traditional Inca Pottery Workshop:
This interesting experience will take us through the process of making a traditional pot or tablet designed in traditional Inca motifs. You will work with soft clay, form it in shape and then craft your design on it. Once its done we can hand it over to the potter who will be responsible for baking it in the oven.
*Note: If you like to keep the souvenirs you make, which we strongly suggest, please pay US$ 10 per souvenir to the workshop.
**These activities are subject to time permitted.
D-07 Exploring the Sacred Valley – Pisac OR Alterative Activity
After breakfast, we will take some time to explore the sites of the famous Sacred Valley. We will visit the nearby indigenous market at Pisac. This is a great place to shop for traditional handicrafts. After lunch, we will meet our trek guides who will lead us along the Inca Trail. Our trek leaders represent the community of porters who carry our equipment and supplies for the next four days. Our trek team will show you what to pack in your backpack and what to leave for porters. We will also have a briefing from the guides on safety and other measures to consider during the trek.
Tonight, we will gather with our community in Urubamba and have a farewell dinner with them. One student from each family will be asked to give a short speech about their experience with the family.
D-08 Urubamba – Ollantaytambo
Trek Day 1: Kilometre 82 – Huallyabamba
Altitude : Huallyabamba 3,000 metres
Distance: 12 km
After an early start, we will head to Ollantaytambo. From here we take a smaller side road to Pisca K’uchu (also known as the Kilometre 82). Here we meet our support team of porters and other staff. Once we are all geared up, it’s time to start the Inca Trail. The first section is ideal for acclimatisation as we hike along the sacred Urubamba River. We have lunch at Llactapata (2,888m) beside some spectacular ruins. Continue to trek up the Cusichaca valley to the small hamlet of Huallyabamba, the last inhabited place on the trail and our campsite for the night (3,000m).
Our team works hard to make your trip comfortable. Whilst walking, all you need to carry is your daypack. Our support team of porters, guides and assistants carries all camping equipment and performs all camp chores. All food is freshly prepared by our expert cooks.
D-09 Trek Day 2: Huallyabamba - Pacaymayo
Altitude : Pacaymayo 3,650 metres
Distance: 8.8 km
After a hearty breakfast, get ready for possibly the hardest day of the trek. We rise early and head to the highest point of the trail - the impressive Warmiwanusca (Dead Woman’s pass 4200m). Views here are spectacular. The trail today takes us past humming birds, stunted cloud forest and outstanding views down the valley. We then descend into the Pacaymayo valley to camp (3,650m). Surely tonight after a hot dinner at the camp you will have a well-deserved rest.
D-10 Trek Day 3: Pacaymayo – Winay Wayna
Altitude : Winay Wayna 2,600 metres
Distance: 13.4 km
After breakfast begin to ascend our first pass of the day (3,998m). It gives us spectacular views of the Vilcabamba range. Walking on well-preserved Inca pathways, we pass Sayacmarca ruins with plenty of time for an in-depth tour. As we continue we go through a tunnel and a gentle climb, which brings us to Phuyupatamarca ruins (“the place above the clouds”), our final pass (3,650m) for today.
After a chance to view the surrounding snow-capped mountains of Salcantay (6,200m) and Veronica (5,800m), we head down into the cloud forest on a series of Inca stairways to Winay Wayna, another interesting ruin, full of swallows and orchids. This afternoon we arrive at our final campsite (2,600m).
D-11 Trek Day 4: WinayWayna – Machu Picchu
Altitude: Machu Picchu 2,430 metres
Distance: 4.7 km
Return to Cusco
After an early breakfast, we start along the mountain trail through a cloud forest, set high above the mighty Urubamba River until we reach Inti Punku, the Gateway of the Sun and our first breathtaking glimpse of Machu Picchu. After taking the time to treasure the moment, we continue down to the ruins for a fully guided tour of the religious, residential and agricultural sectors. After the tour we catch a bus to the colourful town of Aguas Calientes. We will take a break for lunch at a local restaurant. Take the afternoon train through the fascinating Urubamba gorge. An awaiting bus finally brings us back to Cuzco and your hotel for the night.
D-12 Cuzco – Lima
After a long and hard trek, surely it would be a treat to sleep in and take an easy start this morning.
09:00 am – Breakfast.
10:00 am – Walking Tour
We may have a little time to explore Cuzco, once the capital of the Inca Empire. The city was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1983. Since then it has seen a tremendous number of tourists increasing every year. Cuzco sits at an altitude of 3400 metres, which means that it is actually a thousand metres higher in elevation than Machu Picchu (2430 m).
We will have some time to walk to Plaza Del Arms. There are lots of interesting shops to get souvenirs for your parents or other family members. After an early lunch, we will head out to the airport to catch our flight to Lima. In Lima we will stay at the airport until it’s time to board your international flight back home.
D-13 Lima – Departure
THE SACRED VALLEY EXPERIENCE
Our Services include:
1. International Return Flight from Toronto to Lima and back.
2. Domestic Flights from Lima to Cuzco and Cusco to Lima.
3. Trip Cancellation/Interruption and Medical Insurance.
4. 31 meals are included as per our program.
5. Accommodation: Clean and reputable hotel. Family homestays in Urubamba. Camping during Inca Trail.
6. All entry fees for sites as mentioned in the tour.
7. All transfers and sightseeing as mentioned with the tour in our private bus.
8. Trek Permits.
9. Porters to carry all trek support items* (except your personal backpack).
10. Experienced Cooks to provide fresh hot cooked, calorie appropriate, meals during the trek.
11. Clean drinking water during the trek and during your stay in Urubamba. (except at restaurants)
12. First aid kit and an Oxygen Balloon. (we suggest that each participant bring a small personal medical kit).
13. Tourist train from Machu Picchu - Ollantaytambo.
14. Experienced Tour and Trek Leaders.
15. Teachers / chaperones from your school.
16. Bilingual Spanish and English-speaking guides throughout the tour in Peru, also in Urubamba.
17. Baggage handling for 1 piece of luggage that can be checked in at the airport. Limit 22 KG.
Our Services do not include:
1. If you are unable to complete the Inca Trail due to personal reasons or lack of fitness, you are required to pay for all arrangements for yourself and for one teacher to bring you off the trail.
2. Expenses of a personal nature such as phone calls, personal drinks (such as pops or juices), water during restaurant meals, snacks provided in the fridge in your hotel rooms, laundry or personal medication.
3. Sleeping Bag and Trekking Poles. (can be rented)
4. Any shots or personal medication required before or during the trip.
5. Any medical or cancellation insurance needs over and above that which may not be covered by our insurance.
*Note:
1. If you bring your own hiking poles, note that the Inca Trail requires the poles with rubber tips only.
2. The Inca Trail requires special permits issued by the Peruvian Government. These permits are limited and sometimes not available. If the permits are not available, Off The Map Adventures obtains permits for similar Inca Trails such as Lares or Salkanty. Off The Map Adventure reserves the right to make this choice based on its safety assessment. All of the Inca treks lead to Machu Picchu.
3. If your passport information changes after the permits are issued, you are required to update the passport information so that the change is reflected on your permits. Entry to the trail can be denied if the permit information does not match your passport. The change can cost up to US$ 150 per passport.
Exploring the wonders of Peru
Highlights:
Cuzco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu,
Major Cities/Towns:
Urubamba, Aguas Calientes, Pisac & Cuzco
Cultural Impact:
Great opportunities to learn about nature, geography, history, and culture. Connect with locals of the Sacred Valley on a highly immersive cultural exchange experience.
Variety of Transport:
bus/van, walk, hike and train
Activity:
Moderate to Difficult: Hike along the trail can be a challenging walk and requires a good level of physical fitness.
Unique Local Experiences:
The tour provides you with an opportunity of homestay with local families of the Sacred Valley. Students get hands on experience and training to work with a local community.
Program Outline
D-01 Departure – Lima
D-02 Arrive at Lima Fly Lima – Cuzco
Drive Cuzco – Urubamba
D-03 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-04 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-05 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-06 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-07 Urubamba (Visit Pisac Market)
D-08 Trek Day 1: Inca / Lares Trail
D-09 Trek Day-2: Inca / Lares Trail
D-10 Trek Day-3: Inca / Lares Trail
D-11 Trek Day-4: Inca Trail – Machu Picchu – Cuzco
D-12 Cuzco – Lima
D-13 Lima – Departure
THE SACRED VALLEY EXPERIENCE
13 days exploring the wonders of Peru
D-01 Departure – Lima
Check in and board your flight to Peru.
D-02 Arrive at Lima
Dep. Lima – Arr. Cuzco
Drive Cuzco – Urubamba
At Lima airport. We will assist you through immigration and then through customs to the main arrival hall. *The use of hotel will depend on our flight schedule, if the connecting flight to Cusco is early, we will stay at the airport until the next flight.
The flight to Cusco (little over an hour) takes us over the Andes into the heart of Cuzco Valley and to Cuzco City, located at about 3,400 metres above sea level.
We will meet with our local guide and driver who will welcome us and help with our transfer to the Urubamba Valley. Here at the school you will be welcomed by your local host families. Your families will escort you to their homes where you will stay for the next few days.
Today we will spend some time orientating ourselves in the community. We will meet at the project site (school) later this afternoon to review our plans.
D-03 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-04 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-05 Urubamba (Community Project)
D-06 Urubamba (Community Project)
During our stay in Urubamba we will be working at a local school. Our daily schedule looks like this:
08:30 AM Arrive at the school and start your tasks for the day:
During these days we have various projects to work on: helping in the computer lab, painting and fixing the furniture, fixing the grounds and the garden, interacting with the students and working on your communication skills, etc.
12:30 – 1:00 PM Lunch Break: you will go back to your family homes and take a short rest.
03:00 PM Return to the School for work
05:30 PM: Finish Work. We will have time to reflect and take part in some fun activities. We will walk you home afterwards in time for dinner with your local families. Shower and change and have a good night’s sleep.
Note: During your community work days, you can wear comfortable work clothes, bring your work gloves, hat, sun block and drink lots of water.
LOCAL WORKSHOPS
In Urubamba, we may take part in a couple of creative workshops:
1. Inca Style Ring Making workshop:
This workshop gives us the opportunity to work with a local jeweler in the community. We will be guided through the process of designing a traditional Inca ring.
2. Traditional Inca Pottery Workshop:
This interesting experience will take us through the process of making a traditional pot or tablet designed in traditional Inca motifs. You will work with soft clay, form it in shape and then craft your design on it. Once its done we can hand it over to the potter who will be responsible for baking it in the oven.
*Note: If you like to keep the souvenirs you make, which we strongly suggest, please pay US$ 10 per souvenir to the workshop.
**These activities are subject to time permitted.
D-07 Exploring the Sacred Valley – Pisac OR Alterative Activity
After breakfast, we will take some time to explore the sites of the famous Sacred Valley. We will visit the nearby indigenous market at Pisac. This is a great place to shop for traditional handicrafts. After lunch, we will meet our trek guides who will lead us along the Inca Trail. Our trek leaders represent the community of porters who carry our equipment and supplies for the next four days. Our trek team will show you what to pack in your backpack and what to leave for porters. We will also have a briefing from the guides on safety and other measures to consider during the trek.
Tonight, we will gather with our community in Urubamba and have a farewell dinner with them. One student from each family will be asked to give a short speech about their experience with the family.
D-08 Urubamba – Ollantaytambo
Trek Day 1: Kilometre 82 – Huallyabamba
Altitude : Huallyabamba 3,000 metres
Distance: 12 km
After an early start, we will head to Ollantaytambo. From here we take a smaller side road to Pisca K’uchu (also known as the Kilometre 82). Here we meet our support team of porters and other staff. Once we are all geared up, it’s time to start the Inca Trail. The first section is ideal for acclimatisation as we hike along the sacred Urubamba River. We have lunch at Llactapata (2,888m) beside some spectacular ruins. Continue to trek up the Cusichaca valley to the small hamlet of Huallyabamba, the last inhabited place on the trail and our campsite for the night (3,000m).
Our team works hard to make your trip comfortable. Whilst walking, all you need to carry is your daypack. Our support team of porters, guides and assistants carries all camping equipment and performs all camp chores. All food is freshly prepared by our expert cooks.
D-09 Trek Day 2: Huallyabamba - Pacaymayo
Altitude : Pacaymayo 3,650 metres
Distance: 8.8 km
After a hearty breakfast, get ready for possibly the hardest day of the trek. We rise early and head to the highest point of the trail - the impressive Warmiwanusca (Dead Woman’s pass 4200m). Views here are spectacular. The trail today takes us past humming birds, stunted cloud forest and outstanding views down the valley. We then descend into the Pacaymayo valley to camp (3,650m). Surely tonight after a hot dinner at the camp you will have a well-deserved rest.
D-10 Trek Day 3: Pacaymayo – Winay Wayna
Altitude : Winay Wayna 2,600 metres
Distance: 13.4 km
After breakfast begin to ascend our first pass of the day (3,998m). It gives us spectacular views of the Vilcabamba range. Walking on well-preserved Inca pathways, we pass Sayacmarca ruins with plenty of time for an in-depth tour. As we continue we go through a tunnel and a gentle climb, which brings us to Phuyupatamarca ruins (“the place above the clouds”), our final pass (3,650m) for today.
After a chance to view the surrounding snow-capped mountains of Salcantay (6,200m) and Veronica (5,800m), we head down into the cloud forest on a series of Inca stairways to Winay Wayna, another interesting ruin, full of swallows and orchids. This afternoon we arrive at our final campsite (2,600m).
D-11 Trek Day 4: WinayWayna – Machu Picchu
Altitude: Machu Picchu 2,430 metres
Distance: 4.7 km
Return to Cusco
After an early breakfast, we start along the mountain trail through a cloud forest, set high above the mighty Urubamba River until we reach Inti Punku, the Gateway of the Sun and our first breathtaking glimpse of Machu Picchu. After taking the time to treasure the moment, we continue down to the ruins for a fully guided tour of the religious, residential and agricultural sectors. After the tour we catch a bus to the colourful town of Aguas Calientes. We will take a break for lunch at a local restaurant. Take the afternoon train through the fascinating Urubamba gorge. An awaiting bus finally brings us back to Cuzco and your hotel for the night.
D-12 Cuzco – Lima
After a long and hard trek, surely it would be a treat to sleep in and take an easy start this morning.
09:00 am – Breakfast.
10:00 am – Walking Tour
We may have a little time to explore Cuzco, once the capital of the Inca Empire. The city was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1983. Since then it has seen a tremendous number of tourists increasing every year. Cuzco sits at an altitude of 3400 metres, which means that it is actually a thousand metres higher in elevation than Machu Picchu (2430 m).
We will have some time to walk to Plaza Del Arms. There are lots of interesting shops to get souvenirs for your parents or other family members. After an early lunch, we will head out to the airport to catch our flight to Lima. In Lima we will stay at the airport until it’s time to board your international flight back home.
D-13 Lima – Departure
THE SACRED VALLEY EXPERIENCE
Our Services include:
1. International Return Flight from Toronto to Lima and back.
2. Domestic Flights from Lima to Cuzco and Cusco to Lima.
3. Trip Cancellation/Interruption and Medical Insurance.
4. 31 meals are included as per our program.
5. Accommodation: Clean and reputable hotel. Family homestays in Urubamba. Camping during Inca Trail.
6. All entry fees for sites as mentioned in the tour.
7. All transfers and sightseeing as mentioned with the tour in our private bus.
8. Trek Permits.
9. Porters to carry all trek support items* (except your personal backpack).
10. Experienced Cooks to provide fresh hot cooked, calorie appropriate, meals during the trek.
11. Clean drinking water during the trek and during your stay in Urubamba. (except at restaurants)
12. First aid kit and an Oxygen Balloon. (we suggest that each participant bring a small personal medical kit).
13. Tourist train from Machu Picchu - Ollantaytambo.
14. Experienced Tour and Trek Leaders.
15. Teachers / chaperones from your school.
16. Bilingual Spanish and English-speaking guides throughout the tour in Peru, also in Urubamba.
17. Baggage handling for 1 piece of luggage that can be checked in at the airport. Limit 22 KG.
Our Services do not include:
1. If you are unable to complete the Inca Trail due to personal reasons or lack of fitness, you are required to pay for all arrangements for yourself and for one teacher to bring you off the trail.
2. Expenses of a personal nature such as phone calls, personal drinks (such as pops or juices), water during restaurant meals, snacks provided in the fridge in your hotel rooms, laundry or personal medication.
3. Sleeping Bag and Trekking Poles. (can be rented)
4. Any shots or personal medication required before or during the trip.
5. Any medical or cancellation insurance needs over and above that which may not be covered by our insurance.
*Note:
1. If you bring your own hiking poles, note that the Inca Trail requires the poles with rubber tips only.
2. The Inca Trail requires special permits issued by the Peruvian Government. These permits are limited and sometimes not available. If the permits are not available, Off The Map Adventures obtains permits for similar Inca Trails such as Lares or Salkanty. Off The Map Adventure reserves the right to make this choice based on its safety assessment. All of the Inca treks lead to Machu Picchu.
3. If your passport information changes after the permits are issued, you are required to update the passport information so that the change is reflected on your permits. Entry to the trail can be denied if the permit information does not match your passport. The change can cost up to US$ 150 per passport.