Cusco – Trailhead at KM 82 – Ayapata
Your guide will pick you up at your hotel in Cusco at 4:30 a.m. to drive to the trailhead at Kilometer 82. The early start is rewarded by the most beautiful drive through the Sacred Valley with dawn breaking around us.
Along the way, we stop at the Raqchi lookout to take photos (if weather conditions permit). This gorgeous location overlooks the valley of Urubamba with the Chicon glacier visible in the background as well as Mount Veronica and the Urubamba River.
Our drive then continues to the market town of Ollantaytambo, where we will stop briefly to take advantage of more photo opportunities. We then arrive at the trailhead at Kilometer 82, also known as Piscacucho where our Classic Inca Trail adventure begins. Our porters and chef will meet us here with a nutritious breakfast! After breakfast, we go through the Inca trail checkpoint and our adventure on the Inca Trail begins. The trek starts easily with 2.5 hours of relatively flat terrain to reach the Wilkaraqay Inca site. Here we will have spectacular views of the Llactapata ruins, which was a checkpoint on the Inca trail approach to Machu Picchu. Your guide will talk about the history of the site as well as provide an overview of the history of the Inca trail.
Back on the trail, we hike for two more hours to Hatunchaca (2,598 m/8,525 ft) where we will have a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, we will hike for another 2.5 hours until we reach our campsite at Ayapata. This campsite is a little further along the Inca Trail than the traditional night-one campsite at Wayllabamba. We chose this deliberately because it is more isolated and much quieter, allowing us to truly enjoy the spectacular display of stars visible in this part of the Andes.
Our chef will prepare a sumptuous dinner for us all to enjoy together before we retire for a well-earned night's rest in our comfortable tents.
Meals: Lunch/Dinner
Accommodations: Camping
Maximum altitude: 3300 m/10,824 ft
Minimum altitude: 2,750 m/9,020 ft
Distance to walk: 14 km/8.7 miles
Approximate walking time: 7 hours
Difficulty: Moderate