Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu 2D/1N

Time is golden? Yes it is! Some travelers only have a short time but still want to explore all the sacred places around Cusco. No worries, because even in just two days, you will be able to visit the Sacred Valley and the Lost City of the Machu Picchu.

Discounts

• Student Discount (with valid ISIC card) - $15
• Under 15 Discount - $15
• Under 7 Discount - $25

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2 DAY SACRED VALLEY AND MACHU PICCHU TOUR

• See all of the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in just two days, perfect for those with a tight schedule
• Heading up to Machu Picchu early to watch the sunrise

WHY BOOK WITH ALPACA EXPEDITIONS

• We´re a locally owned company and organise all our own tours
• Personalised service for all our guests
• We never sell our groups on to other agencies, even if we just have 2 people
• We use the best campsites and avoid the crowds
• We treat our porters with respect and provide them with everything they need
• Brand new and top quality equipment
• Native and knowledgable tour guides

DAY BY DAY BREAKDOWN:

Day 1 - CUSCO - PISAQ - OLLANTAYTAMBO - AGUAS CALIENTES:

We will leave Cusco around 8.00 or 8.30am and drive to Pisac to see our first Inca ruins of the tour. At Pisac you can see magnificent Inca remains, the ancient architecture and engineering of the Inca temples is breathtaking and will sweep you off your feet. Our guided tour of Pisac lasts about 2 hours before we head back to the valley to visit the most colorful and traditional local market in Cusco and where you can buy traditional textiles at low prices. After our visit to the market our sightseeing continues as we drive along the beautiful Sacred Valley, this area was the breadbasket of the Incas and still produces large amounts of corn on the Inca terraces. Our next destination is Urubamba which we´ll arrive to at approximately 13.00 pm to enjoy lunch (not included) at one of the local restaurants. From Urubamba it´s just 30 minutes to get to the last Inca ruins known as Ollantaytambo (Inca palace). This ruin was built with pink granite rocks and is another impressive example of Inca craftmanship. Here you can see the second biggest rock from the Inca's time (90 tons) which was used as part of the Temple of the Sun. After your tour you have extra time to wander around the site before dinner which you have in any one of the local restaurants. In the evening you will head to the train station which is around 15 minutes by foot, you train will depart at 7.00 pm to Aguas Calientes, which will be a 2 hour journey.

Day 2 - AGUAS CALIENTES - MACHU PICCHU- CUSCO:

Today is the most inportant day since we will be visiting Machu Picchu. Because its so special, we encourage you to wake up early in the morning to enjoy breakfast at the hotel and then get to the bus station to try to catch one of the first buses, which begin at 5.30 am (they are all first come first serve) and takes 25 minutes to get to Machu Picchu. As soon as you arrive to the complex, it is our job to take you to the best spot to overlook the all the ruins and get a panoramic view of the landscape and the sunrise over the mountains. There will be a rendezvous to observe dawn in order to get an spectacular view of the Lost City of the Incas. You will then have a 2 hour guided tour around Machu Picchu with plenty of free time afterwards to explore on your own. If you have tickets to climb the amazing mountain of Huaynapicchu, your guide will direct you to where to begin this hike after the tour (please make sure this is arranged at least a month in advance of your visit as tickets do sell out and are $15 per person). Once you are done with exploring all Machu Picchu has to offer, you will take a bus down to Aguas Calientes for lunch and then take an afternoon train back to Ollantaytamb and then by bus to Cusco where we will drop you off at your hotel.

IMPORTANT NOTES

You will be in two different groups; either in the Sacred Valley tour or Machupicchu tour. However, if you are interested in a private group please let us know.

If any of you suffer from illnesses, allergies or anything that we are ought to know please inform the company so that we can prepare for any necessary precautions that we need to take into consideration. Your well-being is very important to us so that we can make your experience the best time of your life. Live life to the full and experience one of the seven wonders of the world.

Special information about the tour:

Sacred valley is very important since Pre-Incan times where they took advantage of the beautiful weather and the prosperous land to farm. The land cultivates the best varieties of corn, which lies at 2700 meters above sea level.

During the Inca's time, they realized that the Milky Way recognized dark constellations by the Incas, which was aligned in the same direction as the Urubamba River running through the Sacred Valley. The Inca's astronomer discover the different animal shapes formed by the milky way where they decided to copy those animals building as well as several Inca ruins in those animal shapes. One of those was Pisaq, which has Condor shape that represent the heaven life to the Incas. The second one was Ollantaytambo, which has llama shape; an animal, which represents the fertility in the Andean, believes.

Those Inca site places are where the Inca civilization develops many fields of astronomy. Farming is one of them in order to provide food for their people. Machupicchu is considered the lost city of the Incas, which has the most important ruins. This is where they started practicing spiritual religion ceremony and the most amazing thing is astronomy and astrology. It all began here in obtaining the Inca knowledge which was improve over the years and shared by all empire in which described by professor Hiran Bingham as Machupicchu. It means, "All Mountain", The Crystal City of high class people from the Inca's time.

TRAIN TIMES: We will take 7pm train to Aguas Calientes on the first day and the 2:55, 4.42 or 6:45PM train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantayatambo and then we will transfer you back to Cusco and your hotel.

HOTELS: The hotels we work with in Aguas Calientes town are Wiraccocha, Santuario hotel, Plaza Andina, or Chaska. Private rooms with private bathrooms, hot shower, dryer, wifi, nice and clean. If you want to stay an extra night to visit Machu Picchu a second time or to upgrade the hotel then you have the following options

Wiracocha Inn - 2 Star (Extra Night)

• Standard Single or Double (twin or matrimonial) - $70
• Triple - $80

La Cabana - 3 Star

• Standard Single or Double room (twin or matrimonial) – Extra Night $130 / Upgrade $40 per person
• Superior Single or Double room (twin or matrimonial) - Extra Night $150 / Upgrade $50 per person
• Standard Triple room - Extra Night $150 / Upgrade $30 per person
• Superior Triple room - Extra Night $170 / Upgrade $35 per person

Rupa Wasi Ecolodge - 3 Star

• Standard Single or Double (twin or matrimonial) - Extra Night $86 / Upgrade $20 per person
• Suite Single or Double (twin or matrimonial) - Extra Night $148 / Upgrade $50 per person

Sumac - 5 Star

• Superior Double - Extra Night $602 / Upgrade $275 per person
• Superior Triple - Extra Night $778 / Upgrade $235 per person

HUAYNAPICCHU MOUNTAIN: Please, if you are thinking of climbing Huaynapicchu mountain you must book this at the same time as your Salkantay trek. Only 400 people can hike Huaynapicchu per day. You will climb it on your own after the tour in Machu Picchu around 10 .00 am. The price is $15 per person.

OUR GUIDES: Most of our guides began as porters before they went to Cusco University and Institute where they learned about the Inca history. They are always training in order to be the best guide. They each speak English beautifully and of course all of them speak Spanish and Quechua, the Inca Language. They are all able to communicate with natives from around the area and of course he will have lots of history to share with you.

WE ARE SUSTAINABLE: We always clean the trail as we go. We respect the local people, teach them to keep clean the area, and help the local kids. We always take one extra porter who will be walking on the trail just to clean up, picking up the bottles and plastic bags from what other people using the trail throw away.

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE: We try to treat our hikers, our porters and all the local people from the villages with the upmost respect. We travel in small groups to give personalized tours to each traveller, we pay good salaries to our porters and follow the porters law. We provide all our porters with their hiking gear such as shoes, pants, jackets, t-shirts, hats, sleeping bags and most importantly, with health insurance.

STORAGE DURING THE TOUR.- During the tour your main luggage will be stored in Cuzco and you will just need to pack clothes for 2 days.

BOOKING: The 2 Day Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu tour is available to depart every day of the week as long as we have two people. Please let us know if you are interested and we can organise the tour for you.

Thanks for traveling with Alpaca, 100% local company