Sacred Valley Biking and Amazon Adventure
Day 1 – Arrival day and travel to the Sacred Valley.
Arrive Cusco airport 3500m/11480f approx. Depending on whether you’re flying in this morning or the night before, we’ll collect you from Cusco airport or the joining hotel in Cusco. We’ll have lunch before travelling over the Ccorao Pass to Pisac, making some scenic stops along the way.
This will be a rest and acclimatisation day as we will be doing a fair amount of activity at high altitude. Pisac is lower than Cusco (around 2800m/9182f) so we’ll take an easy walk around this gorgeous town in the Sacred Valley, explore the local craft market and then assemble our bikes for the days ahead.
Lunch and dinner included
Day 2 - Parque de la Papa – Home of the potato.
This morning we wake up in Pisac and enjoy breakfast at our hotel before taking a scenic drive up to Parque De La Papa (The Potato Park) home to some of of Peru’s almost 3500 varieties of potatoes. We’ll begin our first ride at Azulqocha (4100m) and ride our way down hill through high altitude farmland towards Pisac. We’ll then explore the fascinating Pisac Inca Ruins. From here we continue our hike through the ruins and return to town on foot.
Approx 14km biking plus 5km/3miles hiking
All meals included
Day 3 - Ride the Ruta del Maiz.
Today’s ride takes us along the Urubamba River as we follow it’s banks through the Sacred Valley on the Ruta del Maiz. We’ll journey through fertile farmland, watching farmers tend to their corn and other crops, passing through small towns such as Lamay, known as ‘cuy town' famous for their cuy - a traditional Peruvian delicacy. If you’re brave enough we can stop and have a taste! We continue our ride all the way along to Urubamba where we stay tonight.
Approx 50km/31miles
All meals included
Day 4 - Visit Moray and Maras salt mines.
Today we take a short drive up above the town of Moray and begin our ride at 3900m/12795ft, we’ll ride along a beautiful open plateau to Moray ruins, another famous archaeological site. Some believe that this site was used as an agricultural experiment to acclimatise seeds at high altitudes which could enable Incas to grow crops such as watermelon at high altitude.
From here, we continue the ride down to Maras town for a local lunch then onto the Salineras de Maras (salt mines) the largest pre-Hispanic salt mines in Peru. The ride is a little technical here and the altitude is high - around 3400m/ 11200ft. We have the option to finish our ride here or carry on down to Pinchingoto which is at the bottom of the valley.
From here we will load our bikes and journey by car to Ollantaytambo. This charming town, the last living Inca City, features beautifully preserved Inca architecture and cobblestone streets.
Approx 28km/17miles biking
All meals included
Day 5 - Melocasa Pass and Lares Hot Springs.
This morning we drive to Melocasa Pass and begin our ride at 4400m/14435ft. The Lares valley is famous for many Inca trails in the area, and we have the option to ride some technical sections of single trail or we can take it a bit easier and keep riding along the 4WD tracks. The outstanding scenery will blow your mind no matter which trail we take, as we bike downhill all the way dropping to 3250m/10,000ft to Lares. We’ll arrive in Lares and set up camp at the Baños Termales (Natural Hot Springs) and enjoy a great soak and a night camping under the stars.
Approx 17.5km/10.8miles
All meals included
Day 6 - Bike Patacancha and travel to Aguas Calientes.
Today we head back up into the mountains, once again to Melocasa Pass 4400m/14435ft known by some locals as Patacancha. This time, we return to Ollantaytambo by bike. It’s another spectacular ride today surrounded by incredible mountain vistas, we’ll ride down through villages until we reach Ollantaytambo. Our bikes will be stored here as we take an evening train to Aguas Calientes, following in Hiram Bingham’s footsteps! This quaint little tourist town is situated right at the bottom of Machu Picchu and is our base for the night. We’ll rest our heads here before our much anticipated visit to Machu Picchu tomorrow.
Approx 33km/20miles
All meals included
Day 7 - Visit Machu Picchu, stay Cusco.
An early start this morning will see us catching the bus up to this famous World Heritage Site. We will spend the morning exploring the beauty of the Inca King’s holiday home! This fascinating place will have us in awe of the incredible energy and location. There is an option to hike Huayna Picchu, be ready for great heights! It’s very steep but an amazing view at the top looking down over the archaeological site. On a clear day we may be able to catch a glimpse of the surrounding mountains and the fifth highest mountain in the Peruvian Andes -Ausangate Mountain. If you’re keen for this option, we will need to be advised at time of booking as this is on a request basis only.
After we’ve had our fill of this incredible place we’ll take our train back to Ollantaytambo and then return to Cusco for a relaxing day off tomorrow.
All meals included
Day 8 - Cusco Free day.
Today is a free day to explore the incredible sites of Cusco.
Breakfast included
Day 9 - Visit and cycle local Cusco sites.
This morning we visit Sacsayhuaman, an Inca fortress overlooking the city of Cusco. Built with stones that weigh over 130 tonnes!! From here we take another short drive to Huayllacocha where we begin our last bike ride of the trip. We ride through Puca Pucara and Tambomachay archaeological sites and continue along through Yuncaypata. The home of downhill mountain biking in Cusco!! A mix of 4WD and single trails will see us all the way back to the hotel. Later this afternoon it’s time to pack the bikes away and say ‘hasta luego' to the amazing city of Cusco.
Approx 13.6km/8.4miles.
All meals included
Day 10 - Fly to Puerto Maldonado and stay jungle eco lodge.
Just as the mighty Amazon starts as a tiny stream high up in the Andes, we too will make our way towards the jungle. We take a morning flight to Puerto Maldonado, a town right in the heart of the Amazon Basin and travel up the Tambopata River – one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River to a beautiful jungle eco lodge. This afternoon we will settle into our bungalows and later we’ll go for another short boat ride in search of caiman and to see how the jungle comes to life at night.
All meals included
Day 11 - Jungle eco lodge.
This morning we wake up early and take a short boat ride and early morning forest walk to visit a local lake in search of the “lobos del Rio” the giant river otters. We’ll also try our hand at piraña fishing and be on the lookout for other wildlife. We head back to the lodge for lunch and a short rest and later, get kitted up for our kayak adventure. Gliding silently down river will give us another chance to look for turtles, birds and capybara – the worlds largest rodent
All meals included
Day 12 - Return to Puerto Maldonado.
Today we return to Puerto Maldonado, and visit a small school that is home to our orphan project in Puerto Maldonado. A small portion of your trip cost goes towards buying food, building materials and other supplies for this amazing project we support. After, we’ll have time to relax before our final dinner!
All meals included
Day 13 - Farewell.
This morning is nos vemos pronto amigos (see you soon friends) from us, and we will transfer you to the airport in time for your flight. If staying on in Lima there is an option to do a renowned food and city tour, contact us for more details.