When this magnificent city was rediscovered, nobody visited because we already had Machu Picchu. A historian guessed that it was the Golden City, and later Choquequirao was proven to be the last refuge before the Peruvian coast. The location of the city is close to the gods (sky, sun, moon, star, and mountain). This spectacular trek will lead you to the enigmatic last refuge of the Incas. Choquequirao (3103 MASL – 10178 FASL) is a huge archaeological complex still in a cleaning and restoration process located in the surroundings of the sacred Salkantay mountain (6271 MASL – 20569 FASL) and the Apurimac River canyon. You will enjoy amazing mountain scenery as well as lots of Andean flora and fauna. This trail includes a section of some of the original Inca trails of South America and has a lot history and legends behind it. The trail is 60 km/40 miles traversed in 4 days.
This day we leave Cusco at 7:00 am, to go by transport for 3 hours to the Archaeological Park of PIEDRA DE SAYWITE, an Inca construction where it may have been a ceremonial center where they worshiped the water, as there is a model carved in a stone that has more than 200 sculpted images that represent hydraulic structures used by our ancestors. hydraulic structures used by our ancestors. Once visited the place we will go for 45 minutes to the District of San Pedro de Cachora (Apurimac Region) and continue to Capuliyoc (lunch place), is here where our hike begins to the viewpoint of Capuliyoc, where you can see the Apurimac Canyon and hopefully observe the flight of condors. After that we will begin to descend for 3 hours and 20 minutes to Chikisca (1930 masl), where we will spend the night (rustic lodging) and in the evening we will have dinner.
We will have breakfast at 6:00 am, then descend for 1 hour to Playa Rosalinas (Apurimac River, border point between the Department of Apurimac and Cusco). We will ascend for a period of 1 hour and 30 minutes to Santa Rosa where we will rest for a few minutes then continue for 2 hours to reach the town of Marampata (2920 meters above sea level) where we will have lunch and accommodation in rustic lodges, in the afternoon you can relax and enjoy the scenery and the sunset.
This day we will wake up at 6:00 am, then we will have breakfast (6:30 am), our lunch will be brought by our muleteer to Choquequirao at noon. It should be noted that this day is and will be the most important of the entire adventure. During the walk of 1 hour and 40 minutes we will be able to appreciate some places like the terraces or platforms, also the biodiversity (flora and fauna) with a humid climate. Once we arrive at the Choquequirao Archaeological Park, we will visit the places belonging to the center (main square, Ceremonial Temple, Qolcas, Llamas Sector, and others) all under a theoretical explanation either of the history, background, etc., provided by the guide. We will have lunch at 1:00 pm, and part of the afternoon we will know more of the place, and then return to Marampata (camp site).
This last day we get up early 5:00 am to have breakfast at 5:30 am, in order to take advantage of the mild weather and avoid the heat, we begin to descend about 3 hours approx. to the Apurimac River (Playa Rosalinas). From there we will begin the ascent for 1 hour until Chikiska, place where we will have lunch, after that we will continue ascending for 3 hours more until Capuliyoc, the beginning of the first day's trek (and you will be able to visualize the whole journey walked during the 4 days towards the Archaeological Park of Choquequirao). Culminated with the hike successfully from this point Capuliyo.
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