CHOQUEQUIRAO 4 DAYS

This ‘Lost City’ Choquekirao (meaning ‘cradle of gold’) was discovered in the 18th century by a French explorer, it fascinated 19th century explorers and was also visited by Hiram Bingham prior to his discovery of Machu Picchu.

Grandiose and mysterious, this abandoned city has lots of parallels with Machu Picchu and there are a variety of theories about its function. It is only relatively recently, however, that COPESCO (the official body responsible for tourism in Peru) has partially cleared the site and there remains a lot more to be discovered.

Lying in a cloud forest, a dramatic 1150 metres (3772 feet) above the Apurimac River and surrounded by a fascinating landscape created by the Vilcabamba mountain range, Choquekirao has everything to offer a trekker. However, due to its remote location, few tourists visited this site in the past. Fortunately, COPESCO, have now also constructed a footbridge over the Apurimac River, below the site, making it more accessible to reach.

It is a challenging but amazing experience to hike down to the depths of the Apurimac Canyon and then up to the site in the clouds…

ITINERARY:

Day 1:

We pick you up from your hotel at about 8am and travel by bus, for about 4 hours, to the small village of Cachora where we will meet our horseman and mules. We will begin our trek along the edge of the Apurimac canyon and follow the trail,enjoying the dramatic landscapes and a variety of plant and animal life until we reach our campsite, ‘Santa Rosa’ (1650m/5413ft).

This day will be day the hardest of our trek (8 hours more or less)

Day 2:

We will get up early, have breakfast and begin our walk by crossing the Apurimac River and then descending to the lowest point on the trail. Following this, we have a steep ascent through a thick cloud forest towards the Inca site of Choquekirao. We will have lunch and then time to relax and enjoy the archeological zone, plants, animals (hopefully condors), and views of nearby canyons and snow-capped mountains (Soray – 5428m/17808ft andTuncarway 5910m/19389ft). We will camp  in Choquekiraw inca site (3033m/9950ft) (5 hours walking more or less)

Day 3:

Today, we will have breakfast followed by a 3-hour guided tour around Choquekirao itself. After this, we descend to our last campsite, ‘Chiquista' (6 hours more or less).

Day 4:

We will wake to birds’ songs and beautiful scenery. We will walk to Cachora (6 hours more or less)  and from there take a bus back to Cusco to arrive at about 8pm.

Trek Difficulty level:

Please Note:

Dificulty level depends very much on your fitness and aclimatization.

Please contact us for further information

5  and 8 day treks are also available. Please ask.